Kakashi and Sasuke Moments
by yara9292
Summary: A collection about one shots with Sasuke and Kakashi. This Story Plays, wenn Kakashi is still Sensei from Team 7. Father/ Son relationship
1. Painful memories

**Painful memories**

It was a normal training day for Team 7. It was early in the morning when Naruto and Sakura waited for their sensei to arrive. What was unusual was not the fact that Kakashi was late. No, it was the fact that Sasuke still wasn't there. Normally the young Uchiha was the first person who arrived on the training ground. One and a half hour later, Kakashi finally made it to the training ground. He looked at his two students and worry showed in his eye, when he noticed that Sasuke wasn't there.

He was sensei for team 7 since four months ago. And in this short amount of time, he had formed a bond with his little genins. But what he would never admit was that he had a special affection for Sasuke. This young Uchiha had a really big place in his heart and Kakashi felt absolutely responsible for the boy. Sasuke had no family, while Naruto had Iruka and Sakura had her parents. Sometimes Kakashi felt like a father for the little raven haired boy. He wanted to make sure that Sasuke would choose the right path in his life. But sometimes he was really worried about Sasuke. That day was such a day.

"Sensei..." Sakura said and brought Kakashi out of his trance. "Where is Sasuke?"

"Yeah!" Naruto cried with his loud voice. "That bastard never shows up late!"

"Naruto, don't swear!" Kakashi scolded. "We'll wait for a couple of minutes. Maybe he'll show up."

Honestly, Kakashi didn't believe that Sasuke would come. He knew what day that day meant for Sasuke. Sakura and Naruto didn't know it, so he couldn't blame the two of them. But he knew and he understood perfectly why Sasuke would not come that day. That day was the fourth anniversary of the Uchiha massacre and Kakashi could understand that Sasuke was not alright. Sure, the young Uchiha was a very talented child and he was good with controlling his emotions, but Kakashi knew the boy would not be fine that day. After all, Sasuke was only twelve, a child who desperately needed someone to look out for him. Kakashi had no problem to be that person. He had a soft spot for Sasuke and he wanted to make sure Sasuke was alright. But nevertheless he had to train Naruto and Sakura first. Both of them would be confused if he stopped their training that day and he didn't want them to be worried about Sasuke too. Of course Sasuke was their teammate but they couldn't possibly understand his pain. But Kakashi could.

"Sensei, he didn't come." Sakura said and Kakashi knew the little kunoichi was sad about the fact that her crush didn't show up.

"Okay, then we'll start today's lesson!" Kakashi commanded. "Naruto, Sakura, go in position!"

The two did as they were told. Kakashi gave further instructions, while his thoughts went to Sasuke. He hoped the boy was alright. He would look for him later.

When the training finally finished, Kakashi wasted no time and went to Sasuke's apartment. He was surprised when he found it empty. He was sure the boy would be there. His worry grew because he didn't know where the boy could be. He decided to check on the cemetery. Maybe Sasuke would be there. But no, Sasuke wasn't there. Slowly Kakashi grew more worried. It was clear that Sasuke would be emotionally down that day. And that was exactly the reason why Sasuke shouldn't be alone that day. Kakashi felt guilty, because he hadn't looked after his raven haired student at once. It seemed that Sasuke took it harder than he thought.

Kakashi began to think about places where Sasuke could be. He got an idea, but he wasn't sure that Sasuke would be there. Kakashi hurried to one of the many training grounds in Konoha. He knew Sasuke very well, and he was certain that Sasuke was frustrated. Maybe the boy would train to calm himself down a bit.

Kakashi finally made it to Training Ground Ten and he felt relieved as he saw Sasuke. Sasuke was fighting against a shadow clone of himself. But that boy didn't take it easy. He could see how Sasuke was trying to catch his breath. Sasuke looked pale and his face was completely covered in sweat. The boy blocked an attack from his shadow clone, as he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Kakashi instantly knew that the little Uchiha was at his limits. He decided to stop Sasuke's irresponsible behaviour. He sent a flying kunai at the shadow clone and in the next moment, the clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi landed in front of his student and gave the boy a stern look. "Why did you overdo it again? You could hurt yourself!"

Sasuke gave his sensei a glare. "Leave me alone! I know exactly how much I can take!"

"I can see that." Kakashi said sarcastically. "You're at your limit, Sasuke and I don't want you to end up in the hospital. Enough for today."

"Tch. You don't understand anything." The young Uchiha replied and looked away from his sensei.

"Do you really believe that?" Kakashi asked. "Trust me, I do know how you feel. Today your memories torments you and you only want to forget everything. That's why you're training yourself to a wreck. Because you don't need to think and it helps you to forget. Even it is only for a little while."

Sasuke couldn't deny that his sensei was right. He was so damn right that it hurt. Who the hell Kakashi thought he was? To tell him about his feelings! He knew best how he felt and he didn't need Kakashi's pity! This entire day, Sasuke had tried to ignore this awful feeling. But after Kakashi's speech, he felt the pain in his chest grew stronger and together with this pain, he saw images from his past flashed before his eyes. His lovely mother, so beautiful and kind and his strict and pride father. And he saw his brother... His soft and understanding eyes, his calm and reasonable behaviour... And then he saw this terrible night. He lost his childhood that night. He lost happiness that night. He lost everything he loved that night. And since that night happened exactly four years ago, Sasukecould still remember everything. He saw his parents' dead and bloody bodies on the floor and his brother's cold and hateful eyes. The eyes of a murderer.

And he never could forget any detail, but on that day, he saw it for every second. He wanted to scream and cry but he felt ashamed about his own weakness and he hated himself for that. That was why he felt so angry. He was angry about everything but he was too proud to cry.

Unfortunately Kakashi's appearance made him only angrier. "Go away, Kakashi! You know nothing about me! So stop acting like you understand!"

"Sasuke, do you really believe I know nothing about you? Do you think I don't know what day today is?" Kakashi gave Sasuke a concerned look.

"I don't care what day it is!" Sasuke yelled, his cheeks were flushed red in anger. "Mind your own business and leave me alone!"

Kakashi could see through Sasuke's mask of anger. This boy reminded him so much of himself at that age. The little Uchiha tried to hide his true feelings behind his angry and determine mask, but on that day, this mask crumbled. An outsider wouldn't see this for sure, but Kakashi was no stranger to the boy. And he had learned to love and care deeply for this young Uchiha. His feelings were almost fatherly and he was always concerned about the boy's wellbeing. Like now, especially now. Sasuke didn't need to tell him his feelings; he could already see it in the boy's black eyes. His eyes reflected such pain and grief that he knew at once that the boy was not okay. But simultaneously he knew Sasuke wouldn't talk with him openly. For Sasuke, admitting his own weakness was an impossible thing. The little raven haired boy was so lonely because he wouldn't allow anyone to get close and see his emotions. Kakashi could remember that he used to be exactly like Sasuke. But now, Sasuke was no longer alone. He had his team. Both Naruto and Sakura cared for him. Nevertheless they couldn't possible understand Sasuke's true feelings. But Kakashi could and maybe this was the reason why he and the Uchiha boy had connected so fast and so deeply. He really liked and cared for all his students, but his connection and affection for Sasuke was stronger. He saw himself in that boy and he had to admit that Sasuke was his favourite student. Kakashi had a soft spot for Sasuke.

His proud student wasn't fine that day. The boy missed his family and it was clear that the massacre would haunt him especially hard on that day. Sasuke tried his best to hide all his problems and feelings from Kakashi. But Kakashi wouldn't allow that. Sasuke was not alone and the boy would never be alone anymore. Because he was here now and he would grieve with Sasuke together. He knew that words wouldn't reach Sasuke, so he decided to show the boy instead.

Kakashi went to the boy and grabbed both of Sasuke's arms. Sasuke began yelling and fighting at once - he wasn't used to be touched and all what he wanted that day was to be alone. Sasuke pulled and tried to free his arms from Kakashi's grip.

"Let me go!" The boy yelled and fought against his sensei. "I don't know what you want from me! Go away!"

But Kakashi didn't let go. Sasuke grew desperate. The pain in his chest grew and he noticed that tears started to sting his eyes. Sasuke didn't know why but he wanted to cry all of a sudden. Just because Kakashi held his arms in a firm grip? That was pathetic! He would not begin to cry and especially not in front of his Sensei. In his desperation, Sasuke kicked Kakashi. But Kakshi turned him around, so that he could hold the boy's arms behind his back. But suddenly Sasuke felt Kakashi's strong arms wrapped around his waist and he found himself in a firm hug. Kakashi's chest was pushed against his back and this was too much for Sasuke, for a child who wasn't hugged since four years ago! Sasuke felt more tears came to his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

"It's okay, Sasuke." Kakashi said in a soft and soothing voice. "Let it go. You have to let go of your emotions or else it will eat you up and I can't let this happen."

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" Sasuke cried but his voice was cracking. He was slowly breaking and all he wanted was that Kakashi would let him go. He wanted to be left alone. Kakashi's grip was gentle but firm and he couldn't break free no matter how much he fought.

"I know everything about this pain, Sasuke." Kakashi continued. "Believe me. I've been through the same. All my family and friends are dead. I was not older than you when it happened. So I understand everything about your feelings."

This was the point when Sasuke stopped to struggle. He couldn't believe what Kakashi had just told him. He was alone too? Was that why his sensei was by his side and tried to support him so often, because he knew how it feels?

Kakashi noticed that he had gotten Sasuke's attention. "It hurts so terrible that you think it will break you, destroy you. And sometimes it gets better, but then the memories come back and the pain begins again."

Sasuke bit his lips. He was on the edge to cry. He balled his fists and tried to be strong, but Kakashi didn't stop talking and every word from his sensei got to him.

"It will never go away, but in time, the pain will be weaker. I'm no longer alone and neither are you. We both have new bonds in our lives. We both have our team now - Naruto and Sakura. And we both have each other - we will help each other make the pain go away. Sasuke, from now on, I will always be there for you. I don't care how much I annoy you. I'm here to comfort you."

This was it. Finally Sasuke couldn't hold back his tears any longer. At first, only one or two drop of tears escaped from his eyes, but soon, tears began to stream down his cheeks. He began to sob. First, quietly but it got louder and louder. Sasuke lost his balance on his feet and he slowly sank to his knees. Kakashi followed suit, still wrapping his arms firmly around the boy's body. Sasuke began crying and screaming and Kakashi knew it was all the pain the boy tried to hide for such a long time. Finally Sasuke released his grief and Kakashi's heart ached by this scenario.

"Shh. Hush." Kakashi said soothingly and he put his head on Sasuke's shoulder and hugged the boy firmer than ever. "It's alright. Everything will be alright."

It took the boy a long time to finally calm down a bit. Kakashi sat on the ground and positioned himself so that the boy was sitting on his lap while letting Sasuke's head rest against his chest. He slowly rocked Sasuke and ruffled the boy's hair.

"I know it's extremely hard for you today. And such day will always come again, but like I said before, it will be easier some day. Until then, let me be by your side and help you to shoulder that heavy burden." Kakashi wiped the tears away from Sasuke's cheeks.

"It's just that... It hurts too much..." Sasuke suddenly spoke, but his voice was quiet and filled with pain. "And I ask myself again, why must this happen? Sometimes I think it's only a bad dream or a terrible genjutsu and all I have to do is to finally wake up... But then again... I know this is the reality..."

"I understand that well." Kakashi said.

"All I want is my parents to be here... I want my family back..." Sasuke sobbed again and fresh tears streamed down his cheeks.

Kakashi hugged Sasuke tightly and said in a reassured voice. "This wish will always stay. Believe me, I have the same wish. But it's impossible. But do you know what else I believe?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"I believe that all the people that we have lost are always with us." Kakashi continued. "My friend. Your family. I think as long as we continue to think about them, they will always live in our hearts and someday we'll reunite with them again in the afterlife. I like to think that they are in a better place now. And they're watching us."

"Do you really think so?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course. If your parents can see you now, they will not want to see you being so hurt and sad." Kakashi answered. "But I think they are really proud of you."

"Why?" Sasuke asked, confused.

"Because you never forget them. And you continue to remember them. Your parents know that you'll always love them." Kakashi said. "You'll grow up to be an exceptional shinobi, Sasuke. You are truly a good child. I'm very proud of you and I'm sure that your parents would feel the same too."

A small smile appeared on Sasuke's face as he closed his eyes and leaned against Kakashi. It was a wonderful feeling that he wasn't alone and someone was there for him. Maybe Kakashi was right. Maybe his parents would always be with him, as long as he didn't forget them. And that would never happen.

Kakashi continued rocking Sasuke. After a long time, he noticed that his student had fallen asleep when he heard Sasuke's even breathing. Kakashi smiled. It was nearly sundown. So he lifted Sasuke in his arms and brought the boy home. He sat by Sasuke's side for the whole night. He wouldn't leave the boy alone that night. He hoped for a better future for Sasuke. Kakashi wanted Sasuke to be on the right path and he wished with all his heart that Sasuke would be happy again someday. He would try his best to support that boy this way.

**Especial thanks to een nihc. She overworked this story as my beta and she did a great job :) Now, the story is so much better :) Plus the title from this chapters was her idea too. **

**Please let me know, what you think. :)**


	2. like a father

**Like a father **

It was during the training, that Kakashi noticed that Sasuke was not the same as usual. He tried to act like normal, but Kakashi was no fool. He could see the dark circle under Sasukes eyes and the slight red flush on his cheeks. It seemed that Sasuke had a hard time to keep up with the training, but he tried his best to act normal.  
After a while, Kakashi had no doubt that Sasuke came down with something. Maybe a simple flu, but Sasuke was in no condition to train.

"Stop!" Kakashi called out to his students and waved to them.

Naruto and Sakura hurried before their Sensei, while Sasuke slowly followed his teammates.

"What is it, sensei?" Naruto yelled. "Why are you stopping our training?"

Kakashi didn't answer as he removed his glove and lifted up Sasuke's forehead protector to place his palm on the boy's forehead.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke growled and gave Kakashi a glare.

"Hmm. I think you have a fever." Kakashi said with concern.

Sakura and Naruto both looked worried for their teammate. Of course they have noticed that Sasuke was not his usual self but they didn't know that he was sick.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"I am fine!" Sasuke snapped and pulled his forehead protector back into place.

"You don't look fine to me." Kakashi told him. "I think it's best that we cancel the training for today. Sasuke needs to rest and he should visit a medic."

Naruto and Sakura nodded, but Sasuke glared at his sensei.

"I know how much training I can take. And I don't need a medic!" Sasuke growled and took a step back from his team.

"Enough. We will not discuss this, Sasuke." Kakashi said firmly. "Naruto, Sakura, I'll see you tomorrow. Sasuke, you'll come with me."

"I am not going with you, Kakashi." Sasuke said. "Leave me alone when the training is already over and mind your own business!"

Kakashi gave Naruto and Sakura a meaningful nod that it was okay for both of them to leave. He would take care of Sasuke.

"Let's go, Sasuke." Kakashi said with a tone that showed he meant business.

"I won't come with you and go to a medic!" Sasuke was furious. Of course he felt not so well. But this was his business, not Kakashi's. And he didn't want to miss training.

"It's a fact that you are sick. You have fever and it's important that a doctor have a look on you. As a shinobi, you train hard every day. But it's important that a doctor examine you, to make sure you are in good health always." Kakashi explained.

"That isn't necessary!" Sasuke protested.

"I decide what is necessary and what's not." Kakashi said and looked at Sasuke straight in the eyes. "You'll come along now or I'll force you. This is my last warning."

Sasuke looked to the floor. He knew that tone and it was clear that Kakashi meant it. Sasuke knew better than to test Kakashi any further, he knew from experience Kakashi would take action and he didn't need to push it that far. "Understood..." He said reluctantly.

"Good choice." Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Now, come."

Sasuke did as he was told and Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder as their walked together to the hospital. Kakashi was really concerned. It was the first time that he saw Sasuke sick and he found it important that the boy would be examined immediately.

When they arrived at the hospital, Kakashi and Sasuke were brought to a room. After a couple of minutes, a medic came in and greeted both of them kindly.

"What can I help you?" The medic asked.

"My student, Sasuke is sick. I think he has fever and he doesn't feel so well." Kakashi explained in a serious tone.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, when the medic approached him. "Let's have a look."

The medic pulled Sasuke's forehead protector up from his head and touched his forehead like how Kakashi had done before. A second later he brought a thermometer and advised Sasuke to open his mouth.

Sasuke growled. "I don't need this! I am fine!"

"Sasuke!" Kakashi warned. "You'll do what the doctor says!"

The young Uchiha flinched at Kakashi's tone. He didn't like it but he knew better than to test Kakashi's limit. This time, without protest, Sasuke opened his mouth and the medic placed the thermometer under his tongue. Sasuke hated this. His throat hurt and his head felt heavy. He would rather be at home, but Kakashi forced him to come to the hospital!

As the medic pulled the thermometer out, he looked at Kakashi and said, "His temperature is really high. I'll give him a prescription when I am done with the examination."

Kakashi nodded and kept his eye on his student. Sasuke looked really displeased but he had already expected that. It was undeniable that Sasuke looked sick.

"Please, lift up your shirt." The doctor said to Sasuke.

"But..." Sasuke wanted to protest, but a warning look from Kakashi makes him silence. He bit his lip as he removed his shirt. He was really annoyed and furious. Kakashi and that damned doctor treated him like a child. He hated that! Sasuke forgot that he was only twelve years old.

The doctor began to examine Sasuke's heartbeat and his lung. After he was done, he advised Sasuke to open his mouth again, this time he wanted to have a look on Sasuke's throat. This time Sasuke obeyed without a protest, he knew it would be useless anyway.

"Oh, your throat is very sore. It's a wonder that you can still talk. Now you can put your shirt back on." The medic said, after he was done. Then he looked at Kakashi. "It was a good decision to bring him here immediately. He had already a little tonsillitis, that's why he's having fever. I'll give him some medicine and after a while, he will get better."

"Glad to hear that." Kakashi sighed. "How long will he need to recover?"

"I guess, maybe one or two weeks. Let's see how the medicine works." The medic answered as he wrote a prescription. He then passed it to a nurse.

"It's important that he takes the fever pill three times per day until the fever subsides. And this syrup is for the tonsillitis. Plus he should drink a lot of water. His temperature should be monitored every four hours. But the boy lives alone..."

The doctor looked really concerned. Everyone in Konoha village knew that Sasuke was alone.

"Don't worry." Kakashi said. "He'll stay with me until he recovers."

"Glad to hear that." The doctor smiled. "He needs a good sleep too. The boy looks really tired."

"That's right." Kakashi agreed. "When we are home, I'll make sure that he goes to bed immediately."

"Okay." The doctor nodded, took a syringe out and walked towards Sasuke. "Okay, Sasuke. I'll give you a shot for the fever. It will bring it down for a couple of hours."

Sasuke flinched but he made no protest as the doctor swapped his arm with alcohol and inserted the syringe into his arm. He bit his lips again. He didn't want to show the medic or Kakashi that the shot was not a nice feeling.

Kakashi almost smiled, as he saw Sasuke's painful look. The young Uchiha could try as much as he wanted but that didn't change the fact that he was still a little boy. And it didn't matter how much Sasuke tried to act like an adult. He loved moments like this, where it's evident that Sasuke was still a child.

After the medic was done, he bid goodbye to Kakashi and Sasuke. Sasuke followed his sensei slowly to the outside. Kakashi walked patiently next to his student. He was concerned about putting Sasuke in bed as fast as possible.

Sasuke suddenly walked towards a different direction. But Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him on his tracks at once.

"Hey!" Sasuke scowled. "My home is in this direction!"

"I know. But like I said before, you'll stay with me until you are recovered." Kakashi told the boy firmly.

"But I thought that was a joke!" Sasuke said with a scowl on his face.

The masked sensei was unfazed by his student's reaction. "You should know that I would never make jokes about my students' wellbeing. Now come, you need rest."

"But I..."

"No, Sasuke!" This time Kakashi cut him off with an authoritarian and strict voice. His tone made Sasuke almost wince. He didn't dare to argue with Kakashi any longer. So he followed without another word. When they arrived at Kakashi's home, the first thing Kakashi did was to bring Sasuke to his bedroom.

"I am not tired!" Sasuke growled, as Kakashi made him lie down on the bed.

"Really? You look really tired to me." He said and smiled at the boy.

"I don't care! I am not tired!" Sasuke retorted again, but Kakashi had already tucked him in with the blanket.

"I don't care either. The doctor ordered you to rest and I won't allow you to ruin your health." Kakashi said firmly, but in a soft voice. "So, end of discussion. Try to get some sleep. When you wake up, I'll bring you some water."

"Come on!" Sasuke tried again, but he was interrupted as Kakashi put his finger on his mouth.

"Hush!" Kakashi commanded. "Your throat needs rest too. And now be quiet or else I'll cast a genjutsu on you."

Sasuke realized that he had no other choice than to cooperate. He turned his back and closed his eyes. The last thing he heard was Kakashi's soft chuckle. Soon he noticed how tired he was and it didn't take him long to fall into a deep sleep.

It was already dark when the boy woke up. He whimpered as he felt his dry throat protested. He had no idea what time it was. He only knew his throat and his head hurt more than before and he felt like shit. Suddenly the light was switched on and Kakashi appeared on his side.

"Drink this." Kakashi said and gave him a glass of warm water.

Sasuke took the glass with shaky hands and Kakashi helped him to take a couple of sips from the water. Sasuke gasped when he felt the burning pain in his throat and he noted how thirsty he was.

"Seems like you feel no better? Is it worse than before?" Kakashi stroked his hair.

"Yes..." Sasuke replied with a hoarse voice.

Kakashi took a thermometer from the side table. "I'll take your temperature. "

Without protest, Sasuke let Kakashi put the thermometer in his mouth. After a minute, Kakashi pulled it out and looked concerned about the result.

"It's still way too high." Kakashi mumbled and took out a pill. "You must take the medicine. Come, sit up."

Sasuke did as he was told. But as Kakashi gave him the pill with another glass of water, he tried to turn away. "No! My throat hurts. I don't want to swallow something."

Sasuke's voice was really hoarse. Kakashi stroked his hair again. "I am sorry but this has to be done. It will be over in a short moment. Come, Sasuke, open your mouth."

"Please..." Sasuke pleaded. He felt so awful.

"No, it's necessary." Kakashi said as he popped the pill into Sasuke's mouth and let him have a sip of water after he had swallowed it. "Good boy."

Sasuke whimpered and he looked confused at Kakashi as he began to pour brown syrup from a medicine bottle onto a spoon. "What are you doing?"

"This is for your throat. Come, one more." Kakashi said and held the spoon up.

"But this looks disgusting and my throat hurts too much." Sasuke protested. He hated medicine. When he was little, his parents had struggled to make him take his medicine when he was sick. The only person who could make him take his medicine in peace was his brother but this was another story and Sasuke would rather not think about it.

"It's not as bad as it looks. Come on, be brave. It's almost done." Kakashi persuaded. His student was really a brat when he was sick. And he had never seen Sasuke so childish like he had today. But he was glad about that fact, because it proved that Sasuke still knew how to be a brat sometimes.

Sasuke realized he had no other choice and closed his eyes as he allowed Kakashi to bring the spoon to his mouth. The medicine tasted as disgusting as it looked and he wanted to spit it out again but Kakashi had already placed his hand over Sasuke's mouth.

The masked jounin knew the intention of his cute student and so he had handled it accordingly. "Come on, swallow it. It will make sure that you get better."

Sasuke had no choice but to swallow the bitter medicine. After it was done, he drank a lot of water to wash it down his throat. "It tastes terrible."

Kakashi chuckled. "Then I have bad news for you. You must take that medicine three times every day."

"Oh no. I won't survive that." Sasuke grimaced.

Kakashi smiled. "Come, let's get your clothes changed and then you can go back to sleep." He brought a fresh set of pyjamas and Sasuke wondered where he got it so fast. Maybe when he was asleep?

"Fine." Sasuke grunted.

When Kakashi didn't leave or turn away, Sasuke frowned. "What are you doing? I can do this on my own. I don't need you to help me."

"Oh, I see…" Kakashi turned his back to Sasuke to allow the boy some privacy. Then he added, "I promise I won't peek."

It didn't sound convincing to Sasuke. He removed his clothes and changed into the pyjamas in record time as if he was afraid that the older man might turn around any time.

"Are you done?"

"Yes."

Kakashi turned around and tucked him in again, much to the young Uchiha's annoyance. "Try to sleep. I'll be there if something happens."

Sasuke closed his eyes and he had to admit that he was glad that Kakashi was there for him. He didn't know what he would do if he was alone. It seemed that Kakashi always knew what was best for him. Almost like how his parents used to know. This was his last thought before he fell into a deep sleep again.

During the night, Sasuke began shaking - he had a shivering fit from the fever. The boy woke up several times and Kakashi was there for him the entire time. He helped Sasuke to drink some water and checked his temperature every four hours, even in the middle of the night. He tried to calm Sasuke down, when he stroked his face and whispered soothing words to bring the boy back to sleep. When the fever rose again, he put wet cloth on Sasuke's forehead and around his calf. And he sat besides the boy's bed throughout the night, exactly like what a parent would do for their child. Kakashi had never felt like being a father himself until that moment. Yes, he really had fatherly affection for Sasuke. This child was like a son for him and he wanted to be there for him always.

In the morning, Sasuke looked a lot better. Of course his throat was sore and it still hurt. But his fever seemed to subside. When the raven haired boy woke up, Kakashi was already there.

"Good morning." Kakashi smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so good. But a little better... I guess." Sasuke mumbled and rolled his eyes as Kakashi take the thermometer out again. "Must you do that again?"

"Of course. We need to check your temperature. You heard the doctor yesterday." Kakashi said and placed the thermometer under Sasuke's tongue. After a minute, he pulled it out and smiled when he saw the result. "Ah, good news: your fever is almost gone. But you still need medicine for your throat nevertheless."

Sasukes eyes widened. "Oh no! Not that disgusting syrup again!"

Kakashi chuckled. "Sorry, but you have no choice."

"Come on! It's early in the morning and..." Sasuke's speech was interrupted as Kakashi suddenly pushed a spoon into his mouth. He was caught off guard completely!

"Done." Kakashi said, as he placed his hand over Sasuke's mouth, so that the boy couldn't spit it out. Sasuke swallowed with a scowl. Kakashi's hands reached for a glass with warm water and placed it in Sasuke's hands. "Come, drink some water. It is good for your throat and it'll help to wash down the taste of the medicine."

Sasuke almost drank the whole glass of water in one gulp and Kakashi laughed. "I'll get you some breakfast."

"I don't want breakfast!" Sasuke protested. "My throat hurts when I swallow something!"

"You need to eat because your body can't recover without energy." Kakashi said and ignored his student's protest, as he walked out from the room. After a couple of minutes, he came back with a bowl. Kakashi placed the bowl on the side table and when Sasuke saw what his breakfast was, he almost smiled.

"Tomato soup?" He asked.

Kakashi nodded. "I know you and tomatoes are the only thing you'll eat even when you are sick."

Sasuke wasted no time as he grabbed the bowl. He almost licked his lips, but then he remembered that Kakashi would see that and so he didn't. Sasuke began to eat his soup with a spoon hastily.

"Be careful, it's still hot." Kakashi warned but Sasuke ignored him and in the next couple of minutes, he already finished his soup. Kakashi took the empty bowl from Sasuke. "Glad to see that you still have a healthy appetite."

"Hn. I realize it's not so bad to be sick after all." Sasuke said and leaned back on his pillow. "Except for the stupid fever checks and this disgusting medicine. But anyway, thank you, Kakashi."

"You're welcome." Kakashi said and smiled.

"But that doesn't mean that you don't have to train me harder when I am fit again! Understand?" Sasuke said and looked at Kakashi with a serious glare.

"Of course I will." Kakashi said and ruffled Sasuke's black hair.

"Let go! I am not a small child!" Sasuke protested. "Bring me another bowl of tomato soup!"

"Since you can make demands again, I think you are on your way to recovery." Kakashi said and stood up with the empty bowl in his hands. As he made his way back into the kitchen, he thought that he really had a special connection to this young Uchiha. It was the first time that he realized Sasuke was himself when he was with him and that he was the only person whom Sasuke trust enough to let his guard completely down. And he felt the same. To him, Sasuke was family.

**Special thanks on een nihc. She is a great beta and she gave me the title suggestions for my one shots too. :)**

**Please review and let me know what you think. **


	3. Training day

**Training day **

Sasuke blocked the Kakashi was reading his book during one of the training sessions with Team 7. While Sakura was practicing shuriken jutsu against a tree, Sasuke and Naruto were sparring against each other a few metres away. Normally Kakashi would keep a close eye on the boys when they're sparring because he knew how the boys provoked each other and a harmless sparring could change quickly to a real fight. However, that day his little genin behaved very well and so he could devote all his attention to his book. He enjoyed moments like this. Training his students was sometimes troublesome. Especially Sasuke and Naruto were often a handful. But that day it seemed that training went smoothly. And Kakashi used this time to relax. This changed all of a sudden, as Kakashi heard an angry cry from Naruto.

"You bastard! I'll show you!" Naruto cried and aimed a punch towards Sasuke.

attack and gave Naruto a provocative smirk. "Hn. You are such a looser."

Naruto's face showed pure fury as he formed hand seals and a lot of shadow clones appeared. Together, they attacked the Uchiha boy but Sasuke didn't look impressed. He merely formed hand seals too and a big fireball appeared.

It seemed that Kakashi had drawn his conclusion too early. He looked to his two students and stood up. He had forbid his students to use ninjutsu without his permission, because this could go out of hand really fast, plus his student could get hurt. So he only allowed his students to use ninjutsu in a sparring match against him, not against each other.

He saw that Sasuke stormed into the smoke, where Naruto must be. If the Uchiha landed a punch to Naruto, it could hurt himreally badly. Kakashi wasted no time as he appeared before Sasuke and he blocked his attack.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Sasuke yelled as Kakashi grabbed him.

Kakashi ignored Sasuke's yelling. "Naruto, over here, at once!"

Naruto heard his sensei and hurried over. He knew his tone didn't mean anything good. "Kakashi sensei, what's the matter?"

When Naruto was near, Kakashi wasted no time and grabbed both boys by the ears and pulled them close.

"Let go!" Sasuke growled and bit his lips, because Kakashi's hold was very painful.

"Ahhh! Sensei, that hurts!" Naruto whined.

"May I ask you, what's the matter with you both?" Kakashi asked.

"Let go!" Naruto repeated, while Sasuke tried to ignore the growing pain in his ear.

"Sasuke, Naruto." Kakashi said firmly, so that he had the attention from the boys. "What happened all of a sudden? You two were getting along for the whole morning but now you ended up in a new quarrel? Why?"

"Because that bastard thinks he is the best! He thinks he can do whatever he wants! He makes me sick!" Naruto yelled and tried to pull away from Kakashi's grip, but to no avail.

"Tch!" Sasuke growled. "You're only envious because you're a hopeless looser!"

Kakashi strengthened his hold on the boys' ears and both Naruto and Sasuke gasped.

"Both of you know the rules." Kakashi said. "You two are teammates and sparring in training means to help each other improve your skills. I have told you that I will not tolerate that my students hurt each other, which will happen if you two attack each other in blind fury. Plus I have forbidden ninjutsu in a simple sparring match, remember?"

"That bastard is to blame! He always provokes me and he thinks he is the king of the world!" Naruto cried in self defense.

"Naruto! You'll not use such language!" Kakashi warned. He let go of the boys' ears and crossed his arms. He gave both boys a stern look. "And now I would appreciate if you two would be so kind to tell me the reason of your sudden quarrel."

Sasuke rubbed his sore ear as he glared at his sensei and said, "It's because Naruto is such a looser that he has no skills to improve. So he always wants to show off but when he faces me, he has to admit that he is only a zero."

"What!" Naruto wanted to attack his arrogant teammate but Kakashi interjected with a firm voice. "Sasuke, what I told Naruto goes for you too. You'll not call your teammates names. And now I want to hear the truth."

Naruto seemed to understand not to provoke his sensei any longer and so he spoke up, "While we were sparring, we got into an argument as always. And so we decided to make a bet. We wanted to see who is better between us. The looser should admit that the other is greater than him. But Sasuke cheated the whole time."

"I didn't cheat!" Sasuke retorted. "You stupid jerk cannot accept that I am so much better than you! That's all!"

"You bastard!" Naruto yelled and he wanted to attack Sasuke again, but Kakashi's stern look stopped him immediately.

"Enough." Kakashi sighed. "I don't know why you two think it's necessary to pull such stupid and immature stunts during your training. But I'll tell you this one last time. I train you because you should learn to get along with each other. Not because you two can satisfy your competitive nature. Everybody has his own strength and weaknesses. And that goes for you two too. You're members of Team 7, my team, and you know what I expect from students of mine."

Naruto nodded with a sulky look, while Sasuke glared at his sensei.

"Apologize to each other and I'll let this incident slide, so that you can go back to your training." Kakashi gave both boys a glare and expected that the boys obeyed. He was not a teacher who liked to be strict with his students, but he had learned fast that sometimes the nice way didn't reached his students. Especially Sasuke. Kakashi knew from the beginning that Sasuke and Naruto were special case. Because both boys had no parents or any other family, so the boys were free to do whatever their wanted. In Naruto's case, he had Iruka who cared deeply for him. Since the academy teacher had put Naruto under his wings, the boy had changed for the better. Kakashi always told Iruka everything about Naruto's behaviour during training. And so he didn't have to fill the shoes of a father in Naruto's life, because Iruka had already taken that part.

Sasuke was another case. That boy was definitely completely alone and he had no one who would take care of him. The result was this superior attitude. The child was so stubborn and proud that Kakashi found it important to get rid of Sasuke's bad habits. That was why he was always more stern with Sasuke than his other students. He had to admit that he had a lot of affection for Sasuke and it was no secret that Sasuke was his favourite student. That was the reason why Kakashi seldom let things slide with Sasuke, while Sakura and Naruto could get away with a lot. Because Naruto had Iruka and Sakura had her own family. Sasuke only had him and he took the obligation to raise Sasuke very seriously. It was exactly like how Iruka cared for Naruto.

"Come on, Sensei..." Naruto protested.

"You two heard me." Kakashi said and waited for his students to comply.

"But..." Naruto said but Kakashi interrupted him. "Apologize or I'll have a talk with Iruka later." Kakashi threatened.

Naruto gulped. A talk with Iruka was the last thing he wanted. It hurt his pride but he better did what Kakashi wanted. "I am sorry... Sasuke..."

"Sasuke you too." Kakashi looked at the young Uchiha and waited for the boy to obey.

"I won't apologize!" Sasuke said in an angry tone.

"I won't repeat myself." Kakashi would not play games with Sasuke. The boy had to obey him.

"No!" Sasuke glared at his sensei.

Kakashi sighed. Why was that boy always so damned stubborn? "Naruto, you can go back to training. Please help Sakura with her shuriken."

Naruto nodded and walked slowly away from his Sensei and his teammate.

Kakashi wasted no time and pointed to a nearby tree. "You'll stand there until I think you are ready to act like a responsible person."

Sasukes narrowed his eyes. His cheeks were flushed red with anger. "You can't be serious! You let that looser train and I..."

"Naruto did what I told him." Kakashi interrupted. "And I expect the same from you. I have told you that you'll be punished when you disobey me. And now over there and face against the tree."

"Forget it!" Sasuke growled. He knew he should not test Kakashi's limit but he had his pride.

Now it was Kakashi's turn, he narrowed his eye on his stubborn student. This boy was so stubborn and proud. It was that damned pride which reminded Kakashi so much of his younger self. The pride which caused so much pain in his life. This damned pride which caused him to risk Obito's and Rin's life. And he had lost them. Because he was so damned proud.

One thing Kakashi wanted for Sasuke was that the young Uchiha would never make such stupid decisions like he did in his past. And that was the reason why he kept such a close eye on Sasuke. He wanted Sasuke to grow up to be a responsible shinobi, who would make wise decisions in his life. But now Sasuke was only a child and the boy needed someone to guide him.

Kakashi wouldn't allow Sasuke to disobey his authority. He grabbed the boy's arm and smacked him hard on his bottom.

"Owww!" Sasuke cried as Kakashi smacked his backside. He regretted now that he provoked his Sensei so much. It was so humiliating to be treated like a stupid child.

"This is my last warning, Sasuke!" Kakashi said and pointed to the tree. "Over there now!"

Sasuke blinked his tears away, as he hurried without protest over to the tree. He clenched his fists and he felt so upset and humiliated. More tears appeared in his eyes but the stubborn boy refused to let them fall. He felt Kakashi was unfair against him as he stared at the tree. He hated this stupid time-out. Kakashi used this punishment often for his students, mostly when he and Naruto fought during training and missions. Kakashi thought that a time-out helped them to calm down and think carefully. Afterwards they must explain what they did wrong. Sasuke had stood countless times before facing a tree but he did it mostly together with Naruto. The fact that Naruto was allowed to train again and that he was punished made Sasuke angry. It was not fair! Although Naruto had apologized to him, like Kakashi said he did, Sasuke conveniently forgot about it.

He was so frustrated that he wanted to cry. He didn't really understand why Kakashi made such a big deal about this little quarrel with Naruto. Maybe when he knew Kakashi past, the boy would understand better why Kakashi wanted his team to get along.

Sasuke grew more and more frustrated and more tears formed in his black eyes. He felt so ashamed as a tear escaped from the corner of his eye. He felt helpless against Kakashi's authority and this was a feeling that he hadn't felt since his parents died. He wanted to scream but he knew he would get into more trouble with his sensei.

Kakashi always brought up such strange feelings in Sasuke. He was not used to adults telling him what to do and what not to do. Not since his parents were gone. He did what he wanted for the past four years. But since Kakashi became his sensei, the man thought he could always tell him what to do. Today was not the first time that Kakashi punished him. It happened so often. Sasuke often got a firm scolding or a punishment from his sensei. And it was not only in training or during missions; no, he even got it in his private life too. When he went out late in the evening for training, Kakashi always seemed to know and appeared to bring him back home. When he stayed up too long, Kakashi would show up and tell him to go to bed. He hated that! It made him feel like a small child. But it seemed Kakashi always knew which buttons he had to push with Sasuke, because in the end, he always did what Kakashi told him to do. Deep down, Sasuke knew that Kakashi only did this because he cared for him. And after the massacre, Kakashi was the first person who had genuine interest to be there for the young Uchiha. But that didn't change the fact that Sasuke was angry. The boy was so angry that more tears escaped his eyes and streamed down his cheeks.

Silently he began to cry. He didn't know why this happened; he only knew he hated himself for that. Sasuke clenched his fists tight and tried to stop crying but he couldn't. He could only hope Kakashi wouldn't notice this.

But the silver haired jounin did notice and a small smile appeared behind his mask. He knew that Sasuke was frustrated and the boy cried because Kakashi had showed him the limit of his patience. At this moment Sasuke was sulking because of that. Sasuke would stand against the tree until he was sure his student knew what he did wrong and ready to apologize to Naruto.

He had time and he would not allow Sasuke to get away with such behaviour. But he had to admit that Sasuke was a really sweet child after all. Always wanted to act tough and mature but that didn't changed the fact that he was a child who messed up from time to time. Kakashi leaned back on the grass. He pulled out his Icha Icha book again and began reading. He could use a little break. And until Sasuke showed real remorse, he could relax a little bit. He knew Sasuke good enough to know that the boy wouldn't give in that easily. Kakashi was so concentrated in his book that he didn´t notice how much time had passed.

Sasuke felt his legs aching and he wanted nothing but to finish this time-out. Meanwhile he was ready to apologize to Naruto, so that he could get out from this stupid time-out. He stood here for over an hour and he asked himself how long his sensei planned to let him stood here. Sasuke could feel Kakashi's presence behind his back, but he didn't know when Kakashi would finally release him from this humiliating place.

Kakashi looked up from his book, when he realized that a lot of time had passed. He saw Sasuke slowly shifting his weight from one foot to the other and he noticed how impatient the boy waited to be released from the time out.

Kakashi chuckled to himself as he stood up. He decided it was enough for that day. "Sasuke, come over here."

Sasuke jumped when he heard suddenly Kakashi's voice. But he was glad that he was finally allowed to leave the time-out. Slowly he made his way over to his sensei but he refused to look the older male in the eye.

"Tell me what you did wrong today." Kakashi went straight to the point.

Sasuke gulped. He hated to admit his own faults but he had no other choice. "I fought with Naruto over stupid things. I disobeyed your order about not using ninjutsu and I refused to apologize by Naruto."

Kakashi nodded. "Good. Then you know what you have to do. Come."

Sasuke nodded and followed his Sensei. He knew that he must now apologize to Naruto and it hurt his pride. But like always, he had no other choice but to obey. As they came to Sakura and Naruto, Sasuke wasted no time to get it over with.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." He mumbled. And Kakashi patted his head, satisfied with his apology.

Naruto grinned and felt happy at the fact that Sasuke had to go through the same thing like him and Sakura was happy about the fact that Sasuke was finally with her again. Then Kakashi dismissed his students. Just as Sasuke was about to leave, Kakashi called out his name.

Sasuke turned around, still a little bit angry at Kakashi. He was still sulking. "What?"

"You did a good job in training today. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke couldn't help it - a smile appeared on his face. Kakashi might be really annoying sometimes but he knew that in fact, his sensei cared for him and would sometimes praise him. Kakashi was not so bad after all and he was glad that he was his sensei and not someone else.

**Special thanks to een nihc :)**

**Please review!**


	4. Foolish Mistake

**Foolish Mistake **

Sasuke tried to ignore his empty stomach. But he was so hungry as he walked on the busy streets of Konoha. He reached into his pockets, took out what little money he had left and sighed. It wasn't enough for anything. He couldn't possibly buy some food with so little money. Sasuke was broke and the reason for that was simple. The boy had spent all his money for an expensive weapon set. And now he was nearly out of cash. Normally Sasuke would not be so irresponsible to spend all his money, especially when he had no money left for food. But when he saw this expensive weapon, he hadn't thought about the consequences. He only wanted this weapon set for his training.

But he began to regret it. Not that he regretted about owning this great weapon, no. It was because he had no idea how he would survive till month end. Orphans like him, gets a fixed allowance every month, which only covered for basic necessities like food, clothes and shelter. It was meant to prevent children from using their money on useless things, like Sasukedid this time. Sasuke was the heir from a rich clan, but that had no use for him in the moment, because he was under age. He would only get his inheritance when he was of age.

He hadn't thought about that carefully. So now he had to face the consequence of his actions. And he didn't know what he should do next. Maybe he could return the weapon set to the shop but he was sure the shop owner would notice that he had already used some of the weapons in training. Plus he was too proud to do such a thing. Maybe he could steal some food (he was a shinobi after all, he could pull it off). But if he got caught, he would be getting into a big trouble.

Sasuke continued walking, but when he passed by his favourite restaurant, he couldn't help but to halt in front of the restaurant for a moment. He looked at the menu with hungry eyes as he spotted his favourite food on it. What he would do for a plate of food now. He was so hungry!

"What are you doing here?"

Sasuke recognized this voice before he turned around and found the masked face of his sensei.

"If you are hungry, why don't you go inside and eat something?" Kakashi asked and he was not surprised to see his student there. After all, they shared a lot of similarities and liking the same food was only one of them.

"I..." Sasuke didn't know how to answer. He was too ashamed to tell Kakashi the truth. Plus he feared to get a long lecture for his action. "I... I have left my money at home."

Kakashi chuckled. "Then come, I'll treat you."

"There's no need for that..." Sasuke protested weakly. He felt bad for lying to Kakashi.

"But I can see that you're hungry." Kakashi said. "Let me do you a favor. Come on, I can use some company."

Kakashi ushered his student into the restaurant. Although Sasuke was glad that he would get something to eat, but he felt bad nevertheless. In fact he and Kakashi had spent a lot of time together. Because they both understood each other and Sasuke knew that his sensei had a lot of affection for him, affection that he didn't had for Naruto and Sakura. It made him somewhat proud because Kakashi was more than only his sensei to him. He was a friend, big brother and father at the same time and he always watched over him. When Kakashi was with him, Sasuke felt not so lonely anymore and he knew his sensei felt the same way. Kakashi had told him that he was like a son to him and he had promised to always be there for him. Sasuke knew this was the truth. The young Uchiha knew he could tell Kakashi the truth about his mistake. But he was ashamed and too proud and he feared that Kakashi could be a little disappointed with him. Usually Sasuke wouldn't commit such childish mistakes. He feared that Kakashi would think he was a stupid brat and that was the last thing he wanted Kakashi to think of him. Honestly he would never admit that, but Sasuke really admired his sensei. He was so strong and it made him proud that Kakashi spent so much time with him.

Kakashi sat down and advised Sasuke to do the same. Sasuke took the seat opposite from Kakashi and stared at his hands. Somehow he felt that he shouldn't lie to his sensei. The waitress came and Kakashi ordered a meal for Sasuke. He didn't need to ask Sasuke as he already knew what food Sasuke wanted. As the waitress asked Kakashi for his order, he waved and said he wasn't hungry.

Sasuke gave his sensei a surprised look. "What is with you? Didn't you want something to eat?"

"No, I am not hungry." Kakashi said and pulled out his red book and began reading.

"But... But then why are we here?" Sasuke asked, confused. Honestly he felt a little more ashamed now.

Kakashi chuckled. "Because I can tell that you are hungry and what type of sensei I am if I let my student starve?"

"But you should eat something too." Sasuke said. He felt like Kakashi had pitied him and he hated such feelings. This was why he wished Kakashi would eat something too.

"You only want to see my face without mask, right, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked in a teasing tone.

"Of course not!" Sasuke protested angrily. "I don't care how your real face looks like!" That wasn't entirely true but the boy would never admit that. In fact he and his two teammates had already tried everything to see Kakashi's face, but their every attempt was in vain.

"Well, if you say so." Kakashi said and returned his gaze to his book.

After a couple of minutes filled with silence, the waitress came to serve Sasuke's food. She placed the dish of tomatoes and fish before the boy. Sasuke looked hesitantly to his sensei, but Kakashi had only paid attention to his book. And so Sasuke wasted no time as he picked up his chopsticks and began to ate. The boy ate so fast that it was clear that he hadn't ate anything for a long time. It only took the boy a couple of minutes to finish his food.

Kakashi looked up from his book casually. "Do you want something more?"

Sasuke shook his head. Of course, he could eat more but he found it disrespectful to order more. After all Kakashi offered to treat him already.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked again but Sasuke only shook his head once more. "Fine, I guess I'll pay then."

Kakashi paid the bill and left the restaurant with Sasuke.

"Do you feel better with a full stomach?" Kakashi asked and ruffled his soft black hair.

Sasuke bit his lip. He hated it when Kakashi always treated him like a small child. He was twelve and not a baby anymore and it was embarrassing for him to be treated like that in public. But he had to admit that sometimes he enjoyed Kakashi's affection. He was always there and Sasuke felt as if he had a father again. But otherwise, Kakashi could be really annoying, especially when he had made a mistake or two. He always got into a lot of trouble with his sensei and the punishments were not enjoyable. But then again, there were moments when he and Kakashi understood each other perfectly. It was difficult for Sasuke as it often reminded him of his childhood. His parents used to treat him similarly, like Kakashi did.

"When was the last time you ate something, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked and gave his student a concerned look.

Sasuke knew that look and it showed that his sensei already suspected that he had some problems. He didn't know how Kakashi always managed to do that - always knew what was wrong with him, even when he didn't tell the man anything. Nevertheless, he didn't want to tell Kakashi the truth. It would be humiliating if Kakashi would think that he was some stupid brat who couldn't take care of himself properly. So he tried to tell Kakashi another half hearted lie. "Today's breakfast... I guess."

"But it's only afternoon now and you already looked like you're starving. Are you sure that everything is alright, Sasuke?" Kakashi's look told Sasuke that he didn't believe him.

The young Uchiha looked away from Kakashi. It was always the same - he couldn't stand Kakashi's concerned look, so he tried to avoid eye contact. But when Kakashi suddenly placed his hands on his shoulder, he had no choice but to look at his sensei.

"Tell me if something bothers you." Kakashi said.

"It's nothing, really." Sasuke mumbled and hoped that Kakashi would be satisfied with his answer.

But Kakashi didn't seem convinced. Of course not, because he was always really concerned with his student's wellbeing, especially Sasuke. And when one of them had a problem, he wanted to be there and help to find a solution. "You should know that I can tell if you're lying to me. Why wouldn't you tell me when you're having some problems? Honestly, I'm your sensei and you know you can come to me for anything."

"I..." Sasuke looked to the floor and avoided Kakashis glance. Of course his sensei was right but he felt so ashamed and the thought that Kakashi could be disappointed with him scared Sasuke a little bit.

The jounin sensei said no more, as he put his arm around Sasuke's shoulder and guided the boy away from Konoha's busy streets. Kakashi brought Sasuke to the park and satdown on a bench, while he pointed the empty place next to him and advised Sasuke to take a seat too.

The young Uchiha did as he was told, but he felt uncomfortable with this entire situation.

"You know what I told you is true, right?" Kakashi asked. "that I care for you like a son and that I´ll be always there for you no matter what."

Sasuke nodded.

"Then why wouldn't you tell me about your problems? Is it so serious that you're scared to tell me?"

"No, of course not!" Sasuke opposed with a loud voice. But he looked away again and continued in a much lower tone. "It's.. only embarrassment... I guess..."

"Look, we are all sometimes in a situation which we are ashamed of something. This is a natural thing. But you should not forget that you're a child and when you have problems, you must tell me because I'm an adult and it's my obligation to help you when you have problems, Sasuke."

The little Uchiha sighed. Yes, Kakashi was right, like always. But damn, it didn't change the fact that he was really ashamed of his action. But he should tell his sensei what he did and maybe Kakahsi would help him to find a solution. The boy took a deep breath before he began to tell Kakashi the truth. "I have made a big mistake... I have wasted all my money on an expensive weapon set and now I'm completely out of cash. I don't even have money left for food."

And so it was out. Kakashi almost smiled. But only almost, because he knew for Sasuke, this was a really big problem. He thought that Sasuke had done something worse than this but he had only made a childish mistake. "This is really unusual of you. So this weapon must be special since you wouldn't be so careless usually."

"They are but that it didn't change the fact that I have made a big mistake..." Sasuke growled.

"You really wanted that weapon, hm? When you don't even have enough money for some extra expenditure, why didn't you ask me? I would have bought it for you." Kakashi said and placed his hand on Sasuke's head.

Sasuke looked at his Sensei. First he was surprised. Why should Kakashi waste his money, only to buy him something? But then he looked to the ground. Of course, Kakashi was his sensei and he knew that he could ask him almost everything. But the true reason was that Sasuke was not used to ask people for favors. Not since his family was gone. He felt that it was irresponsible to ask others for help or favors and so the boy tried to shoulder his burden alone everyday. He felt that this was his obligation and that everyone expected him to be mature and smart. He felt he owed this to his parents, because he had to avenge them. And when he made stupid decisions like this, it only proved that he still wasn't in the position to carry out his revenge. It frustrated him. He only wanted to make everything right, yet he made so many mistakes that he began to doubt himself.

"What are you thinking?" Kakashi asked. "It's not a big deal. I'll help you out and you'll learn from this mistake and won't do that again."

"It's not done when you help me out!" Sasuke protested.

Kakashi realized that, for Sasuke, this was more than a mistake. It seemed the boy was really disappointed with himself. He mentally sighed. Sasuke was a difficult child, unlike Naruto who was always optimistic. Sasuke wanted to do everything perfectly and when he made a mistake, regardless of how little it was, the raven haired boy would be frustrated. "Do you know something, Sasuke? We are all human and human make mistakes. This is the way of life. As a child, you are bound to make a lot more mistakes. That's why you need an adult for support."

"I'm not a child!" Sasuke cried angrily. "And don't compare me to everybody! I'm an Uchiha and I have the obligation to make right choices in every aspect of my live!"

The jounin held Sasuke's face with his hand and forced him to look him straight in the eye. "Yes, you are a child and it's only natural that you sometimes do foolish things. But let me tell you something: adults make foolish choices too. I make foolish choices so often and there is no need to be ashamed of that. Let's fix your mistake together and then forget this event completely. I'll help you."

"But..."

"No 'buts', Sasuke. I'm here to help you. That's what a sensei is for. And you know that I care for you more than that. I see you as a son and I think it's my obligation to take care of you. And now let me buy you some food, or else you can't keep up with the training. Clear?"

The young Uchiha listened carefully at his sensei's words. He had to admit that Kakashi's words made sense. Somehow his sensei always found the right words. He began to think carefully about his mistake and came to the conclusion that it was thoughtless but maybe it's not as bad as he had thought. He was surprised that Kakashi admitted to make mistakes so openly and so, Sasuke felt a little bit better and not as ashamed as he did before. Maybe Kakashi was right. He should forget that stupid incident.

"Yes."

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Come on, let's go and buy you some food. I suppose your fridge is empty?"

A light blush appeared on Sasuke's face as he nodded.

A light chuckle escaped Kakashi throat, before he pulled some cash from his pockets and placed them in Sasuke's hand. "Here, this is for the rest of the month."

"But I can´t take this..."

"Of course you can and you will." Kakashi interrupted.

"I don't want to be a burden for you, Kakashi." Sasuke voiced out his concern.

Kakashi looked at the young Uchiha with a soft eye. A smile appeared under his mask again. He was glad that Sasuke had become his student. His life was full again since that day. "You are never a burden for me and you never will. It's a pleasure for me to help you out. Because I want to make sure that you're alright and I hope you'll never doubt that, Sasuke. I'm really proud of you. If you do something wrong, I'll be there to correct you. Understand?"

A smile appeared on Sasuke's face. He tried to hide it but Kakashi saw it nevertheless. "Understood."

"And now let's go. After we are done shopping, you can show me your new weapons." Kakashi said as he began walking.

"Does that mean you'll train with me today, alone?" Sasuke asked as he walked next to Kakashi. The boy tried to hide the fact that he was really excited about the prospect of an exclusive training with Kakashi.

"Of course." Kakashi said.

This time Sasuke didn't bother to hide his smile. It felt so good to get so much affection. And Kakashi really gave him a lot of affection. A training with his jounin sensei means fun, work and some new lessons for sure. Sasuke couldn't wait until they began. Plus he had new weapons now and he enjoyed working with them. "You'll be really impressed when I show you the weapons and I have some new moves too."

"I can't wait to see them." Kakashi said as he smiled to his raven haired student. He didn't care for all the problems in the word in that moment. He didn't care for all his pain. The only thing he knew was that Sasuke and he were connected and they both helped each other to look forward to the future. And that was all that mattered.

**Big Thanks to een nihc :) She overworked this story and the result is so much better :) I´m really happy that she ist my beta. **

**Please review! **


	5. Pride and Prejudice

**Pride and Prejudice**

**Warning; This chapter contains corporeal Punishment.**

"That's not fair!" Sasuke yelled.

"I've already explained to you why it isn't possible for you." Kakashi said in a calm voice.

For the pass half an hour, he had this discussion with the young Uchiha for a simple reason. Every genin in the Leaf had the opportunity to participate in a competition in the neighbouring town. This was organized to test every genin as a preparation for the chunin exams. It was a test to see which genin would be ready to take the chunin exams, which would start in three months time. Kakashi and the other senseis had already announced their genin for the competition. Only Sasuke was left out for a special reason. The young Uchiha got hurt in his last mission and the medics had ordered more rest for the boy and because the competition would start in one week, Kakashi had refused his permission to participate. Only Naruto and Sakura would be able to participate in that competition. Sasuke would stay at home. Kakashi knew this was bitter for his student, but it had to be done. But the stubborn boy didn't want to listen to his reason.

"You let Naruto and even Sakura go! That sounds like a bad joke to me! I'm an Uchiha and I have more rights to take part in this competition than those two idiots!" Sasuke yelled, his face turning red in anger.

"You'll not call your teammates names, Sasuke." Kakashi said and sighed mentally. "Your wound isn't healed completely and I will not send you unprepared to a competition where you could get hurt badly. This is my final decision, Sasuke. You will not take part in that competition and that's final."

"I don't care what you want! I'll take it nevertheless." Sasuke said and glared at his sensei.

"Not without my permission." Kakashi stayed calm. It was impossible for Sasuke to go without his permission. "I have to sign on the registration form, remember?"

That was true. Sasuke had seen how his sensei had signed Naruto's and Sakura's form. Only he would not be able to participate in that competition. He could only stay in this damned village and watched the blond idiotprove himself. He was so angry and he hated Kakashi for this. He couldn't understand why Kakashi made such a big deal with this little wound. He felt that his sensei only did that because he wanted to hold him back.

"I'll never forgive you if you don't give me your permission! And I will request to be placed in a different team!" Sasuke cried.

Kakashi looked at his young student with a serious glare. He knew that the boy tried to threaten him and he would be damned if he let this happen. He was the adult here and he was Sasuke's sensei. He knew whether the boy was ready or not. And of course it troubled Kakashi a little that the boy wanted to confront him, but he wouldn't change his decision. Maybe this was a lesson that Sasuke had to learn. It's better that he learned it now than later.

"I'm really curious to know how you'll do that, but try it out if you want." Kakashi said and didn't lose his cool. Because it was impossible for Sasuke to be placed in another team. Every sensei would do the same and the Hokage would support his decision because it showed that Kakashi was concerned about his student's wellbeing. Sasuke's threat was only a desperate attempt coming from a sulking child.

"You'll see!" Sasuke cried and clenched his fists.

"Okay. The competition is done for you, accept that, please." Kakashi took a step nearer to Sasuke and placed his hand on the boy's head, but to his surprise, Sasuke slapped his arm away.

"Don't touch me!" Sasuke yelled and took a step back. "I hate you so much!"

Kakashi was a little hurt, but he had to remind himself that Sasuke was a really angry child at this moment. Sasuke had done whatever he wanted for years, so it was no wonder that the boy had issues with his authority. "I'm sorry that you see it that way, but you won't change my decision. If you want to make it difficult, it's your choice."

Sasuke's face was red with anger. Before he attacked Kakashi in his rage, the boy decided it would be best for him to run away without another word.

Kakashi looked at his favourite student and shook his head. Sasuke was so difficult sometimes and that day was definitely one of those times. He felt a little bad about the fact that Sasuke was so angry with him and the boy had shown him a completely new side of himself. But his decision was the right one. He couldn't allow Sasuke to put himself in danger, only to satisfy the boy's wishes. He knew that he did it for Sasuke's wellbeing. And he comforted himself with that thought.

Normally he would talk to Sasuke again when the boy calmed down a little bit, but he had a long mission on the next day. So he had no other choice but to look for the boy when he would be home again. Kakashi let the boy out of his sight unwillingly, but sometimes he had no other choice. And so he went home, a little depressed about his confrontation with Sasuke.

Meanwhile Sasuke stomped angrily on Konoha's streets. He couldn't believe that he was the only one who wouldn't be able to take part in this competition. This was the perfect chance for him to prove himself and Kakashi simply destroyed everything! He felt so angry and betrayed that he stomped with blind fury through the streets. He ran until he was away from the busy streets of Konoha and stopped when he reached one of the parks. He wanted nobody near him and he was glad that the park was almost empty. He slowed down a bit and tried to think clearly. He didn't want to come to terms with Kakashi's decision. And so he tried to look for a solution desperately.

A sudden noise brought his attention to the left side of the park and he was surprised when he saw his classmate, Shikamaru Nara, sleeping on the meadow with his things scattered carelessly next to him. Sasuke was surprised that he didn't notice him before, but then again, he was so furious that he didn't really care. It made him sick that such a lazy guy could participate in the competition and he should sit at home and rest!

He gritted his teeth as he looked disgusted at his lazy classmate. Then his eyes focused on something really special. He couldn't believe his luck. Right next to Shikamaru, laid the registration form for the competition!

Sasuke approached the sleeping boy stealthily and his eyes widened with excitement when he realized that the form still wasn't filled up. That was his chance! If he took the form from that Nara boy, he could falsify Kakashi's signature, then he would be able to participate in the competition. And the best thing was Kakashi would be out on a mission. So nothing could happen to stop him.

Sasuke smirked as he grabbed the form and disappeared. He felt so happy that he ignored the voice in his head, which told him that he was about to commit a crime.

He hurried back to his home and used his sharingan to falsify Kakashi's signature almost perfectly. The young Uchiha filled the rest of the form and submitted the form to Hayate who was responsible for collecting the forms in a hurry. It took him no longer than five minutes and Sasuke's dream came true. Hayate didn't notice anything strange. Sasuke was now official registered as a participant for the competition. He felt a little triumphant because he had tricked Kakashi. With a happy smile, the boy went home.

The next morning, Kakashi went to the Hokage tower, where he would get his missions details. He was still a little bit sad about his confrontation with Sasuke but he had to concentrate and so he pushed the thoughts aside. As he entered the Hokage's office, he saw Hayate was present too. He was busy showing the Hokage the registration forms from the genin. Kakashi greeted them politely and waited patiently until the Hokage finished.

"Hatake." Hayate said with a smile. "I am not surprised that you have sent your team to the competition."

"I guess so." Kakashi said and wanted to change the subject. This competition was the reason why Sasuke was so angry.

"I have high hopes for your team, especially the Uchiha." Hayate said as he handed the Hokage a stack of papers.

"Then I have to disappoint you, Hayate." Kakashi said and sighed mentally. "He won't be taking part in that competition. He is still injured and so I have forbid his participation."

Hayate laughed. "Your jokes are getting better, Hatake."

"I'm serious." Kakashi said. He suddenly felt a sick feeling in his stomach but tried to ignore it.

"Come on. I have the registration form from the Uchiha boy." Hayate thought Kakashi wanted to make a joke or something.

"That's impossible." Kakashi frowned.

"Kakashi, stop this. I have his form right here." the Hokage said suddenly and held a form high in the air.

Kakashi took the form from the Hokage. He looked carefully and couldn't believe what he saw.

"What's the meaning of this..."

"Your Uchiha personally came to me yesterday and submit this form." Hayate explained when he realized that Kakashi really didn't know anything about this.

"If you didn't give Sasuke your permission, how is it possible that your signature is on the paper?" the Hokage asked and gave Kakashi a concerned look.

The jounin examined the paper again. The data were definitely filled out with Sasuke's handwriting and the signature... definitely looked like his own. And then he knew it. That brat had falsified his signature!

The Hokage seemed to know what Kakashi was thinking. "Do you think Sasuke had falsified his registration?"

"I have no other explanation than that." Kakashi replied honestly. "That boy was so angry when I told him that he wouldn't participate in that competition."

"Where did he get the registration form then?" Hayate asked.

"I have no idea. The fact is it was definitely not from me. The medics ordered Sasuke to rest and I wouldn't ignore their orders. Not when it comes to the health of my students."

"I believe you, Kakashi." the Hokage said. "But I must honestly admit that I'm a little worried. What Sasuke did is a crime."

"I'm aware of that fact, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said with gritted teeth. He was furious. This time Sasuke definitely went too far. "I would handle Sasuke at once accordingly, to make sure that such an incident will not happen again. But this mission..."

"I'll send someone else." the Hokage said. "I won't have any rest, when this incident stays unresolved. And so I suggest you to take care of Sasuke, because this is too serious to let him get away with it."

"That is my intention. I'll make sure the boy understands perfectly what he did wrong. This time he really went too far. And my patience is at the limit." Kakashi tried to suppress his anger.

"You know it's hard for Sasuke to make right decisions, because his parents were dead. We had the problem with Naruto too, until Iruka took him under his wings. " the Hokage said. "I entrust Sasuke to you, Kakashi and I hope you can fill the role. It's really important that you show him that you don't fool around. When you forbid him from something, he has to obey. What will happen in a mission when he didn't take your orders seriously? This can end really bad... Make sure that this will not happen again."

"I give you my word that this will not happen again, Hokage-sama. I'll punish him accordingly and he won't pull a stunt like that again." Kakashi was really furious, but he was glad that the Hokage understood him and that he could take care of this incident at once.

"I believe you. Now go." The Hokage nodded.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said before he looked at Hayate. "Hayate, I would appreciate if you remove Sasuke's name from the candidates list. He will not participate in the competition."

"Sure." Hayate said and after that, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke was about to leave his apartment. He wanted to go training, because he wanted to be in his best form for the competition. When he was about to close his door, a firm hand grabbed his arm and Sasuke turned around to see his Sensei before him. He ignored his hunch that maybe Kakashi had found out about his registration. But that was impossible! And why was he here? Shouldn't he be on a mission? Sasuke wanted to say something, but Kakashi interrupted him with a harsh voice.

"Inside!"

Sasuke shrugged and opened the door again. Kakashi pushed the boy back into his apartment and Sasuke could feel his sensei's anger. Before he could say or ask something, Kakashi took out a folded paper from his pocket.

"I want an explanation." Kakashi said. "What is this?"

The young Uchiha gulped as he saw what Kakashi hold in his hands. It was the registration form and it was exactly the form that he had falsified. "I don't know..."

"Don't play games with me, Sasuke!" Kakashi barked and the boy flinched. "You know exactly what this is and now I want an explanation - how dare you commit such a crime?"

Sasuke knew he couldn't deny this any longer. However, Kakashi's strict voice reminded him of his anger, because Kakashi was to be blamed. If his sensei wasn't such a jerk, he didn't need to take such measure. That was why he yelled his anger out. "It's your fault! If you had given me your permission, I didn't need to do this!"

"I see, you still don't realize the extent of your action." Kakashi raised his voice, something which he rarely does with his students. "Where did you get that registration form? I didn't give it to you."

"This is none of your fucking business!"

What was wrong with his student all of the sudden? Was it only because of this stupid competition that the boy acted out like that? Sasuke's behaviour was completely unacceptable. "Watch your mouth! And don't you dare to provoke me any longer."

Sasuke snorted. "I don't care what you want from me."

"Stop this attitude." Kakashi said. He really had enough with this boy. Sasuke's attitude that day was of another whole new level and Kakashi wouldn't allow the boy to talk to him like talking to an equal. He was still the boy's sensei and in some ways, the boy's guardian too. He demanded the boy's respect. "Watch your tone when you are talking to me. I will not tolerate your behaviour any longer. Now, answer my question. Where did you get that registration form?"

"Tch. You didn't have any right to be here and lecture me about something that's your own fault. It's your fault that I've gone so far. If you had given me your stupid permission, I wouldn't have done it by myself. So you only have yourself to blame." Sasuke snorted and looked very angry.

"Enough. This is my last warning. Stop this behaviour now or you'll be punished for it." Kakashi threatened and he was serious. What the boy did was too serious to let him get away with it. And this attitude was the last straw. If the boy kept it up, he would be forced to take action. "Now, will you be so kind to answer my previous question?"

Sasuke flinched and his face was flushed red. Kakashi's threat only made him angrier than before but the thought that his sensei would punish him... It would be Sasuke's worst nightmare. So the boy bit his lips as he tried to stay calm and give Kakashi a straight answer. "This form is from Shikamaru Nara..."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows as he crossed his arms. "It's difficult for me to think that the boy simply gave it to you. The Nara boy is smart and he would know that it is a crime to falsify one's signature."

Sasuke tried to push down his anger. "I saw Shikamaru sleeping on the meadow and his registration form was placed right next to him. This form wasn't even filled out! This guy doesn't deserve to participate in this competition! He doesn't even want to participate in this! But I wanted it so much and it's simply not fair that I should cancel everything, while every idiot can take part in it!"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. That boy was completely out of hand. "So you thought you could simply steal it from your comrade?"

"I didn't steal it; I merely took it!" Sasuke said.

"You have taken his form without his permission which means that you have stolen it." Kakashi said with a loud and stern voice. "Then you filled it without my permission and falsified my signature. You lied to Hayate and gave him the registration form without any remorse and I'll tell you something, this is a big crime."

"Tch." Sasuke glared at his sensei. "Don't give me such bullshit, Kakashi. If you didn't interfere in my life, I wouldn't have done anything like this. You should help me to get stronger and not hold me back the whole time! You are such a useless sensei!"

"It's not only my obligation to make you strong. It's my obligation too, to make sure that you are alright and that you behave like a responsible shinobi." Kakashi said with a very serious voice.

"That's pathetic. You are merely my sensei who is responsible to train me, not to interfere in my life! Do both of us a favour, Kakashi and leave now, will you? You are so annoying!"

And that's when Kakashi realized it. Words alone wouldn't make the boy understand. He sighed deeply and prepared himself for what he was about to do. "I see, this is going nowhere..."

Sasuke wanted to say something, but suddenly Kakashi moved forward and grabbed him around his waist. Sasuke gasped in shock and began struggling as his sensei carried him to his bed. After Kakashi sat down, the boy found himself in a vulnerable position – he was being placed over his sensei's lap. Sasuke's eyes widened, his sensei had warned him but... He tried to get free but Kakashi pushed him down.

"Let me go!" Sasuke cried. "You have no right! You're not even my father!"

Sasuke's words hurt Kakashi a little, because he cared for Sasuke like his own. And he did everything to fill a father's role. But he reminded himself that Sasuke was angry. "You may be right, that I'm not your biological father, but it's obvious to me that you need a parent, who will keep you in line and believe me, I have no problem to take up that part und step in that role!"

Kakashi pulled down Sasuke's shorts and a second later, the boy's underwear. Sasuke blushed and began struggling with wild fury. He tried to form hand seals but Kakashi grabbed his right arm and restrained the arm firmly on his back. Sasuke hated this feeling. It was the first spanking he would get from his sensei. Until now, he had only gotten a warning slap from his sensei sometimes. But now he felt that the man meant business. Sasuke felt so embarrassed and he knew this would really hurt. His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a loud slap and a second later, registered a stinging pain on his backside. Sasuke closed his eyes and bit his lip. He wouldn't cry! He would never give Kakashi that pleasure.

What that boy didn't know was that it wasn't a pleasure for Kakashi to punish his student. And he didn't do that because he wanted to hurt Sasuke. He did it because he wanted Sasuke to come to his sense so that the boy would listen to him seriously. He wouldn't spank him long, because it hurt Kakashi more than anything but he would make sure that Sasuke learned a lesson. He wasn't even using his full strength but he made sure that Sasuke felt it.

Kakashi landed another slap. "I think you know exactly why you ended in this situation."

"Shu... Shut up!" Sasuke cursed as he squeezed his eyes. It hurt and he only wanted to leave this humiliating event behind.

"Do you know that falsify a signature is a crime?" Kakashi asked and smacked Sasuke. "You have are lucky that you are still a child, or else the Hokage could have restrained you."

Sasuke tried to bear with the pain, but this was really difficult. He kicked his legs and tried to get free but it was useless. It hurt so much that he had to use all his willpower to stay silent during this painful punishment.

"You stole from one of your classmates and you lied to an older shinobi and you tried to betray me. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Kakashi continued to land firm spanks on Sasuke's backside.

Sasuke couldn't answer. He tried not to cry desperately. Damned, he was an Uchiha but Kakashi always treated him like some stupid kid. He hated his sensei so much! First he destroyed his chance to enter the competition and now he humiliated him like this! At last, he couldn't help it and let a couple of tears escaped and streamed down his cheeks. He tried to gulp down his sobs but as Kakashi hit him again, a sob escaped his throat.

Kakashi knew that the boy would soon break and because it wasn't his intention to make the boy cry, he landed three more slaps and then stopped. "I hope you know now that I stand firm to my words."

As Kakashi released his arm, Sasuke wasted no time and stood up at once. He then pulled up his boxers and shorts back in place and wiped his tears away with his fist. He avoided eye contact with his sensei the whole time.

The jounin sensei couldn't help but felt a little bit guilty. Maybe he had overreacted, but Sasuke had really asked for this. This boy reminded him so much of himself at that age, it was almost terrifying. "Look, Sasuke. I did this because I want you to understand that you've done something really bad."

Kakashi placed his hand on Sasukes shoulder, but the boy slapped him away and stepped back.

"Don't touch me!" Sasuke yelled and fresh tears appeared in his black eyes.

"Sasuke..." Kakashi looked at his student with concern. The boy looked so hurt and Kakashi's heart ached at the thought that this corporeal punishment was the reason for that. "I want you to know that I hated it as much as you, to punish you. But you left me with no other choice. You have done such a crime and I'm really disappointed with your behaviour. I didn't forbid you to participate in that competition because I want to annoy you. I couldn't give you my permission, because you're still injured. You are a smart boy and you should know that my decision is only reasonable."

The young Uchiha looked away. He only wanted to be left alone so that he could finally cry. He hated his life so much and the feeling that he failed in everything makes him sick. He didn't want to talk to Kakashi, he only wanted to be alone. "G.. Go away..."

Kakashi was now really concerned. His student acted differently and he began to worry. He stepped closer and kneeled down, so that he could look the boy straight into the eyes. "What is wrong? Tell me if I'm the reason why you feel bad."

Sasuke went a step back again. Then he yelled. "I hate you! You don't understand anything. So go now!"

"I understand you better than you think." Kakashi said and he believed that he knew what the real problem was. "You want to be strong. Stronger than everyone and you felt that I'm being unfair to you because all the other genins are allowed to participate in that competition. And so you tried to find your own way to participate too."

The boy didn't say anything. Honestly this was exactly what he thought.

"But that's unacceptable." Kakashi continued. "When I tell you something, I expect you to obey my orders. When you disobey me like that, you'll get punished. And what you did was absolutely not acceptable. It was a crime and nobody would tolerate a stunt like that."

"I only wanted to be strong enough!" Sasuke suddenly yelled. Sasuke felt remorse, but he couldn't accept that he should stay home, while every other genin could prove himself. And Kakashi knew that Sasuke meant his revenge. And this hurt him. He only wished that Sasuke would choose another way instead of revenge.

Kakashi was a little taken aback but when he saw the pain in his student's eyes, he knew what the boy needed. Without any other word, he grabbed the boy by the shoulders and pulled him into a big hug. Sasuke fought against Kakashi but it was useless und soon the tears escaped his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I shouldn't punish you before you are aware of your own action." Kakashi said and his voice was full of real remorse. "But that didn't change the fact that you still deserved it. What you have done was completely unacceptable and it's my obligation to make sure that you will not repeat such an stunt."

Kakashi sighed, before he continued. "But you have to understand me too. The Hokage had placed you under my care and I'm responsible for you as a shinobi. Do you realize what everybody would think when I send my injured student to a competition where you can get hurt badly? But instead of accept my decision, you betrayed my trust and falsify my signature with a stolen form. I can't tolerate this, Sasuke. Impossible."

And to his surprise, Sasuke nodded. Kakashi's words suddenly made sense and Sasuke felt a little bit ashamed now. "I'm sorry. I haven't thought about that. I only wanted to get stronger and prove myself..."

"I know but I can't deny that you definitely went too far this time. When I tell you something, it's your obligation to obey me, like every other genin too." Kakashi said and placed his hand on Sasukes head. "But if you understand, I'm willing to leave this incident behind us."

"Okay..." Sasuke mumbled. "But shouldn't you be on a mission?"

Kakashi chuckled a little. "Yes, but someone alert me about your misbehaviour and I didn't want you to get away with that."

"You're really annoying." Sasuke said and broke free from Kakashi's hug. "But I think I overdid it a little..."

"Glad you come to your sense at last. My mission is canceled for now, so I have plenty of time." Kakashi said and stood up. "Do you want something to eat? My treat."

Sasuke looked away. He felt that Kakashi's company would be fine and so he slowly nodded. Now he felt a little bit sorry for his actions.

"Alright, then let's go." Kakashi said as he put his hand on Sasuke's shoulders and urshered him to the door. "And Sasuke, I expect that you to apologize to Shikamaru and Hayate too."

Sasuke nodded, but then he stopped. He wanted to tell Kakashi something. "Kakashi... I didn't hate you..."

The jounin was surprised at first, but then he smiled. "I already knew that, my little Sasuke." He said as he ruffled Sasuke's hair.

"But you're still annoying." Sasuke added.

Kakashi laughed.

With that, his confrontation with his stubborn student ended. He was glad that it was over and he knew that the little Uchiha felt the same too.

**Special thanks to een nihc :) She is a amazing beta and she helped me a lot. The new chapter titles were her idea too.**

**Please review :)**


	6. Team 7

**Team 7**

"I'm really proud how fast my students have connected." Asuma said with a smile. "All three of them show so much potential. I think they have a great future."

"Really?" Kurenai asked. "But that was expected of your team. My team is great too and I'm proud to be Team 8's sensei."

"What about you, Kakashi?" Asuma asked. "How is your team doing?"  
Kakashi looked up from his book. Somehow Asuma and Kurenai had invited him to hang out with them that afternoon. His Genins were on a simple D rank mission and he didn't have anything better to do, so he had agreed to go with the two other Jonins to a teahouse. Soon Kurenai began to talk about her students and Asuma talked about his own team and now it seemed it was Kakashi's turn.

"They're doing well."

Kakashi wasn't a talkative person and so his brief answer was not satisfying for his jonin colleagues.

"Can't you explain a little bit more?" Kurenai asked and rolled her eyes. "Asuma and I told you everything about our students. We want to know how your team is doing."

"Like I said. Well." Kakashi repeated and returned his attention to his red book.

"If that's the case, congratulations." Asuma said. "I haven't thought that your students will be getting along."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked.

"You have two problematic kids in your team. Nobody wanted Sasuke or Naruto as a student, least of all with both of them together. And what with their past, I think you should have some troubles with both of them." Asuma looked with a concerned look at Kakashi.

The Hatake was a little bit confused. He couldn't understand what exactly Asuma wanted to tell him with that. "What do you mean?"

"It's obvious." Kurenai said. "Every genin has his own family. Only your two boys are orphans. I know it must be difficult for you to handle this. I mean, I don't know if I would be fit for such a big responsibility."

Honestly, Kakashi hadn't thought about this until now. Because his team got along so well together and he was proud of all of his students. He was happy with his team and he tried to train and guide them, so that they will be responsible and strong shinobi in the future. And it was true that Naruto and Sasuke didn't have any family but Naruto had Iruka, who cared deeply for him. So he didn't need to fill the shoe of a father figure to his little Uzumaki. And Sasuke... Sasuke was his favourite and he didn't mind to keep a close eye on his little Uchiha. In fact he enjoyed caring about that boy. It felt like he had a family again and he knew that the boy felt similar. Kakashi knew he and Sasuke had a special connection.

"Don't worry. The boys didn't give me any trouble. They're doing well, like any other genin too. Besides Naruto have Iruka and Sasuke..."

"Yeah, that's true." Kurenai interrupted. "Iruka cared forNaruto, since a couple of years ago. But what about the Uchiha boy?"

"Sasuke is alright." Kakashi said.

"I can't believe that the boy can live a normal life, after everything he went though." Asuma said.

Kurenai nodded. "You're right. Who knows what the boy saw on that tragic night when his entire clan died in his brother's hands? It's impossible that this child can grow up like any other child."

Kakashi was furious, but he didn't show it. In fact the way that they said such things about Sasuke troubled him. Because he cared for the boy and he would make sure that Sasuke would grow up like any other child. But he couldn't deny that he began to think that maybe Asuma and Kurenai were right. Maybe what Sasuke went through was too much and maybe his little Uchiha could never be like any other genin.

"Kiba said that he is a complete outsider." Kurenai continued. "In the academy, the boy has never made any friends and never talked to other children."

And this was the last straw for Kakashi. Maybe Kurenai and Asuma too, couldn't fully understand the pain to be completely alone but Kakashi could. He had a lonely childhood like Sasuke and it was his team (Obito, Rin and his Sensei) who pulled him out from the pain of solitude. Exactly like what Naruto and Sakura did for Sasuke. He understood Sasuke's feelings perfectly and that was why he would never let the boy fall. After he lost his own team, his new role as a sensei gave him a new purpose in his life. He cared so deeply for his three cute genins. Especially Sasuke. And he knew he could show Sasuke the right path. No, he would make sure that Sasuke walked on the right path.

That's the reason why Kurenai's and Asuma's words made him so angry. Before he realize it, he sprung up from his seat and told them with a loud voice. "Don't talk such bullshit. Sasuke is nothing like that! I'm his sensei and I know him, not you or Kiba or anyone else! I've seen how he cares for his teammates and how he helped them almost everyday. And do you know something? I care for him and that means he isn't alone anymore!"

And that was true. In fact Sasuke was the reason why he was sensei of team 7 now. His little Uchiha was the one who broke the rules and shared his lunch with Naruto. Maybe that was the moment when he decided to take Sasuke under his wings.

He said no other words as he pulled some money from his pocket and placed it on the table, before he stormed out, leaving a confused Kurenai and Asuma behind.

He looked calm as he made his way through Konoha's busy street but inside, he was upset. He was Sasuke's sensei now and not only that, the Hokage had given him the role as a guardian too. He knew who Sasuke was, what he needed and how he felt. Not Asuma or Kurenai. They should only care about they own genin and not interfere in the business of other genin team.

Of course the two other jonins didn't want to hurt him with their words intentionally but this was exactly what they had done. And he couldn't deny that their words brought up some worries in Kakashi. What if Sasuke was really more traumatized than he supposed? Of course Sasuke could not be like any other child at his age but this was clear after everything the boy went through. Nevertheless the boy was on a right path now and Kakashi would make sure that this would continue.

His biggest worry was Sasuke's determination to avenge his dead clan. It was an understandable wish but Kakashi knew the dangers of this path and he couldn't allow Sasuke to destroy his future and fall into darkness because of this. Of course Sasuke didn't see the dangers of this path but this was only natural, since the boy was too young. He was only twelve now and it was Kakashi's obligation to bring Sasuke to the other road. And he would try his best, because revenge is definitely the wrong path. The only outcome would be emptiness. And in the end, revenge could never bring your loved ones back to life. So Sasuke had to find a new purpose in his life and Kakashi wanted to help the boy to do that.

The jonin decided it would be a good idea to see how his genin were doing with their D rank mission. So he went straight to the forest, where his team supposed to plant some new trees because a couple of trees were cut down last week. As he approached the area, he could see that his genin team did their job perfectly. New trees were planted everywhere. It seemed their job was already done. A smile appeared under his mask. He was proud that his students managed to complete their D rank missions alone without his advice and supervision. Just when he thought they had already left, he suddenly heard Naruto's laughter. He turned around and continued to search for them on the path.

As he was near, he could hear the splash of water and it suddenly occurred to him. That day was a really hot day and right next to the forest, was a little lake. Maybe his genins wanted to swim a little after they have finished they work. Kakashi leaped onto a high tree and looked down to the lake. What he saw made him smile at once.

Naruto and Sasuke were tussling in the water, while Sakura swam some rounds. As Naruto splashed Sakura with some water, she punched Naruto on the head and what followed was a loud laughter from Sasuke. And this was the moment when Kakashi realized that Sasuke was never lost. The team gave Sasuke a new purpose in life. And when Kakashi saw the smiling face of his Uchiha boy, he couldn't help but grinned to himself. And then he realized that he had tears in his eyes. He, Kakashi Hatake, almost cried? Kakashi realized the fact that Sasuke could still be a child made him felt relieved. And he saw how much Naruto and Sakura had helped him.

Naruto sprung on Sasuke with an angry scowl and tried to push him under water. And Sasuke tried the same with Naruto. Soon those two ended up in a new brawl. But he saw the smiles on the boys' faces and that the three of them were happy together. In that moment, it was clear that three of them would always stick together. It was not only him who cared for his team, he saw it already but now he knew it for sure, all three of his students cared for each other too. He and Sasuke had found a new family in their team. And of course, especially in each other. He couldn't describe how relieved he felt as he saw how exuberant and happy his young Uchiha acted.

He enjoyed seeing his genins so happy together and he hoped that it would enable him to hold on to the three of them a little longer, away from the cruel world outside the village and from the cruel world of a shinobi. Someday, the three of them would have to face this reality but until then, Kakashi wanted to buy his students some time, so that they could have the possibility to enjoy a nice childhood together.

After a while, he realized that the sun already began to set. So he decided to do his little genins a favor, as he stormed off and came back a while later with some towels. His students didn't seem to realize how late it already was, and so Kakashi called out to his team.

All three children looked up and saw their sensei. Kakashi waved at them and gave them a sign to come out from the water. Naruto was the first, who stormed towards his direction, quickly followed by Sakura and Sasuke was the last who made his way out from the water. He smiled again as he saw that all three were only wearing their underwear.

"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"So, do you have any idea what time it is now?" Kakashi asked in amusement. "It's almost nine o'clock."

Sakura gasped in shock. "What? My parents will kill me!"

And without another word, she grabbed a towel from Kakashi's arm and picked up her clothes from the ground, before she ran off. She waved at his team and yelled a hasty goodbye.

Naruto was the next who gasped in shock, as he realized what time it was. "O damn, I had a meeting with Iruka at eight o'clock at Ichiraku's. I hope he is still there!"

He grabbed a towel from his sensei and grabbed his orange clothes. "Bye, sensei and Sasuke teme, I have to hurry! See you tomorrow!"

And with that, the cute blond boy vanished into the forest.

Kakashi smiled and Sasuke sighed.

"What an idiot, to forget an appointment." Sasuke said.

"But you forget about time too, right, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't care. It is not that someone is waiting for me." Sasuke replied and Kakashi could see that the boy was trying to hide his sadness.

Kakashi put the last towel over Sasuke and began to rub his head and his shoulders dry. "Come on, you'll catch a cold if you are not careful."

"Let go, I can do it by myself." Sasuke scowled, but Kakashi continued until he was completely dry. Then he put his shorts and shirt back on.

"So, let's go home." Kakashi said cheerfully.

Sasuke merely said, "I would rather sit here for a while longer. It's a nice evening today."

"Alright, but only for a little while. Soon it'll be bedtime for you." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Tch. That's pathetic." Sasuke growled and sat down on the sand.

Kakashi sat down right next to Sasuke. "Can I share your company?"

Sasuke nodded and looked to the sunset. For a couple of minutes, they shared a comfortable silence.

The Kakashi asked. "How was your day?"

Sasuke seemed to think for a moment. "I guess... It was a good day today."

The jonin sensei smiled. "Same for me too. I'm glad that I have you three as my team."

After a moment of silence, Sasuke said quietly, "I'm glad too."

And then Kakashi ruffled Sasuke's hair. He realized that in the end, it was always him and Sasuke. Because Naruto had Iruka and Sakura had her own parents. And of course, team 7 was a family too, but in the end it was always him and Sasuke. Sasuke was his family and he knew the boy felt the same. While both Naruto and Sakura had they own lives besides team 7, it was Sasuke who was always with him, even after trainings and missions. It was Sasuke whom Kakashi always cared for, in every aspect of life. And he felt that Sasuke was like the child he never wanted, but now he felt like he had a son and it was a great feeling.

Kakashi smiled at his student, as he said, "Come on, let's go. You need to get ready for bed."

Sasuke growled, but stood up nevertheless. As he walked besides Kakashi on the way out of the forest, he said, "I hope you know that I'm not a baby, Kakashi."

"I know. But you're a child and a really sweet child too." Kakashi chuckled and received a glare from his student. "Come on, it was only a joke. I'll bring you home."

"Hn." was Sasuke's only reply. But he smiled nevertheless, because on that day, he definitely felt that he was not alone anymore. Deep down in his heart, he wished that it would always stay like this.

As for Kakashi, what other people said about his team didn't bother him anymore because no one knew them better than him. And it was all that mattered.

**Special thanks to een nihc :)**


	7. A Night in the forest

**A Night in the Forest**

Kakashi was with his team on a simple D rank mission and they were on the way home to Konoha. They had set up a camp for the night, because he wanted some rest for his team. However after the work was done, Kakashi allowed his students to run free for a while because the three genins found it to be very boring to sit in the camp for the entire evening. So Kakashi let the kids go, with the strict warning that they were to stay near the camp and not wander too far away from him. At last Kakashi would have some time to relax himself. He pulled out his Icha Icha book and began reading, while he waited for his little genins to come back.

After one hour, Sakura was the first who came back. She didn't look happy and Kakashi gave her a concerned look as he asked, "Where are Naruto and Sasuke?"

"Sasuke-kun and Naruto got into a new fight and Sasuke-kun ran off because he said both Naruto and I were annoying." Sakura said and bit her lip. "And then I blamed Naruto for that and left him behind."

Kakashi sighed. "How often have I told all three of you that you should learn to get along with each other?"

"I know..." Sakura blushed.

"Besides, you shouldn't run off alone in the forest. It's dangerous. I only allowed it because you promised to stay together." Kakashi said and gave her a firm look.

"Yes, I know... But I guess the boys should arrive soon too." Sakura said and sat down next to the fire.

After a while, Naruto returned to the camp, when it was almost sundown. He saw Kakashi's strict glare and gulped.

"Where have you been for so long?" Kakashi asked. "I've told you not to separate from your teammates."

"It is not my fault, sensei!" Naruto protested with a loud voice. "That bastard left us behind and then Sakura-chan ran away too!"

"Watch your language. And you three are really a handful sometimes. Have you seen Sasuke anywhere? He is not back until now." Kakashi said and looked to the sky, which has gotten darker.

"I don't know where Sasuke is. Maybe he is still sulking." Naruto answered.

Maybe Naruto was right and Sasuke was still annoyed with his teammates and so he wanted to avoid the team for a while longer. Otherwise why would Sasuke risk getting into trouble with him only because of that?

"Don't worry. Sasuke will be back in no time." Naruto said optimistically.

"But what if he wandered off too far?" Sakura asked with worry in her eyes.

"We'll wait for a while longer. I'm sure he had only lost track of time." Kakashi said, determined to give the boy a firm scolding when he showed up.

But time passed and the sky was getting darker. Kakashi couldn't deny any longer that something definitely wasn't right. Something must have happened. He stood up and ordered Naruto and Sakura to stay in the camp, while he would go and look for Sasuke. Maybe the boy wandered too far and now he couldn't find the way back to the camp.

He grabbed his first aid kit just in case of emergency, and after Naruto and Sakura nodded, he vanished into the forest and tried to look for some traces of Sasuke. It was really dark and so he had to pull his headband up, which usually covered his sharingan. With the sharingan, it was a lot easier for him to go forward. It only took him half an hour to finally find some traces. He saw some foot prints but what really worried him was the fact that the place looked as if there was a fight a while ago.

Kakashi grew worried. Damn, he shouldn't have allowed his students to leave the camp. He had no idea what had happened. And as he went further, he could see a pool of blood to his shock. A couple meters away, he suddenly saw the dead body of a big tiger. A lot of kunais were stuck in the body of the animal and it was obvious that Sasuke was the one who was attacked by this dangerous animal. He looked in every direction. Wild animals were a danger for sure; this was one of the reasons why Kakashi had told his students to stay together and not to wander off too far. Usually the animals wouldn't attack humans without a reason.

As he looked to the floor again, he saw a trail of blood on the ground. Kakashi followed the trail and after a couple of minutes, he heard a whimper. It was definitely Sasuke's voice. As he looked in that direction, he could see his student curled up into a ball, between two trees. Kakashi wasted no time as he sprung towards the boy and landed in front of him.

"Sasuke!" He cried, as he saw how bad Sasuke's condition was. Sasuke didn't answer and merely whimpered in pain. Kakashi pulled out an electric torch from his bag so that he could better see in the dark. He could see that his student was hurt really bad. Sasuke had scratches all over his body and his left arm was bleeding really badly.

Kakashi placed his hand on Sasuke's back and tried to get a better look on the boy. Sasuke's leg was also bleeding from a wound on the boy's calf. When he tried to observe the wound, Sasuke pulled himself away from him.

"Sasuke, hold still and let me have a look on you." Kakashi said and tried to get Sasuke to lie down on his back, so that he could have a better look on the boy's injuries. "I need to check on you and treat your wounds."

"No... G..Go away..." Sasuke said between gritted teeth. "It hurts... "

"I know it hurts but I need to check on you, so that I can help you." Kakashi said with a comforting voice. He was damn worried at this moment and to see Sasuke in such amount of pain broke his heart. He tried to lie Sasuke down again.

Sasuke tensed and curled himself together. "Please... It hurts..."

The jonin sensei realized that the boy was already crying and he knew that his student was in a lot of pain. "I'll help you, I promise. But Sasuke, you need to cooperate so that I can fix the damage. I know it hurts, it has to be."

Kakashi placed his hands under Sasuke's arms and placed the boy carefully on his back, then he restrained Sasuke with his left arm, so that he could have a better look on the boy. The scratches on the boy's body seemed to be harmless and the wound on Sasuke's calf didn't seem as big as he had thought at first. But his arm... He got bitten on his arm and the wound was really deep. Kakashi narrowed his eyes in concern as he grabbed his first aid kit and placed the electric torch on the floor so that he could have a perfect look on his student. He disinfected his hands and pulled some gloves from his first aid kit before putting them on. Sasuke tried to shriek as Kakashi came near again, but this time he grabbed the boy and held him back in place.

"Please don't touch it!" Sasuke whimpered. "It hurts so much!"  
He could see how tears appeared in Sasuke's eyes and he wanted to do something to comfort the boy, but on the other hand, he must take action or Sasuke could die because he had lost a big amount of blood.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi said as he grabbed Sasuke's arm and began cleaning the wound with alcohol. The scream which followed broke Kakashi's heart. He knew how much pain it was from experience and if he could, he would rather endure the pain on Sasuke's behalf. But he had no other choice. "Shh. You'll be fine. I promise..." Kakashi said with a soothing tone, but he didn't need to look at Sasuke's face to know that Sasuke didn't believe him and that the boy was crying.

He heard Sasuke's sobs but he continued with his work because he had to hurry. When the wound was clean, Kakashi began to bandage the wound. A medic nin would be able to heal the boy but he wasn't a medic nin and so he could only treat the boy until he could bring him into a hospital. After his arm was bandaged, he grabbed Sasuke's ankle and placed his leg on his lap so that he could treat the wound. When he began cleaning the wound with alcohol, Sasuke cried again, and tried to pull his leg away but Kakashi had a firm hold on his ankle.

"It's almost done. Bear with it a little longer." Kakashi said and tried to comfort his student, but he already knew that Sasuke wasn't listening to his words; the pain was too much to bear for a child of Sasuke's age. He could hear Sasuke's sobs and he tried to hurry but the treatment needed some time and he knew that his little Uchiha had no other choice than to go through this. But then suddenly Sasuke stopped crying at once and Kakashi's head shot up and looked concerned at his student. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that Sasuke's eyes were closed and his face was really pale. Without hesitation, he grabbed Sasuke's wrist to check his pulse. And he was so relieved when he felt a strong pulse. Sasuke only passed out because of the pain, blood lost and exhaustion. Maybe it was better for Sasuke, because he didn't need to bear the pain any longer.

Kakashi proceeded to bandage Sasuke's calf and treated the rest of his wounds as fast as he could. Nevertheless Sasuke was in no good condition and he had to hurry to bring the boy to a hospital. He had never been in such a situation before. Ever since he became the sensei of Team 7, his students had only gotten some minor injuries, and it was his first time to see one of his students in such a bad condition. Like every other sensei, Kakashi felt desperate. He was their sensei, the three of them were placed under his care and he felt responsible for what happened to Sasuke.

He placed the boy carefully in his arms and carried him back to the camp. They couldn't stay overnight here. That was impossible because they needed a medic nin to heal Sasuke and they couldn't waste a night in the forest. Kakashi knew that Naruto and Sakura were exhausted but they had no other choice.

As he arrived at the camp, Naruto and Sakura ran towards him at once.

"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto yelled. "Where have you been for so long? And where is..." The blond boy became silent when he saw his unconscious teammate in Kakashi's arms.

"What happened?" Sakura cried and placed her hand before her mouth, because she was too shocked.

"I'll explain later. Please pack your things and then we have to go. We need to bring Sasuke to a hospital." Kakashi said.

Naruto and Sakura quickly packed their things and hurried to Kakashi's side. Then they ran in the direction of the next town.

"Sensei!" Sakura said. "Will he be alright? I... I mean will Sasuke be alright?"

"Don't worry, I've already treated his wounds. He is only exhausted, that's all. But after a medic have a look on him, he'll be fine." Kakashi answered and tried to comfort himself with his own words. He looked at Sasuke and he could see how the sweat covered his student's pale face. His breathing was heavy but it was there. Sasuke wasn't in a life threatening condition but he wasn't okay either. Kakashi wished he could reach this damn town in an instant. Both Naruto and Sakura also did the best they could to keep up. After an hour or two, they finally reached the town. Kakashi instructed his two students to look for a place to stay for the night.

"But sensei..." Naruto tried to protest. He wanted to go with Kakashi, to make sure Sasuke would be alright, but Kakashi interrupted him.

"No, Naruto. Please do what I say. Sasuke need treatment and rest, you two would be only in the way." Kakashi said and his voice sounded tired. He didn't wait for his students to answer as he turned around and ran to the hospital.

Naruto wanted to follow his sensei as he was not satisfied with his given task. Sasuke was their teammate, Sakura and him were worried too. It was their right to stay with him too!

Sakura put her hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "Kakashi sensei is right, Naruto. What we can help Sasuke most is to look for a place to stay and let the medics do their work. We will only be a nuisance."

With a heavy heart, Naruto nodded. Maybe Kakashi and Sakura were right.

Meanwhile Kakashi had brought Sasuke to the hospital. The medics had taken Sasuke from him and brought him to a separate room. He waited patiently outside and counted the minutes. After a while, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud and painful cry. It was obvious that this cry came from Sasuke and his heart throbbed painfully with the thought that Sasuke was in pain again. At least Sasuke seemed to be conscious again.

A second cry reached his ears and Kakashi couldn't bear the fact that he couldn't do anything for his student any longer. And so he pushed the door open and stepped into the examination room.

The sight hurts him. Two medics held Sasuke down, while another healed his arm wound with his chakra. It was a painful procedure when the chakra was pushed into the wound and Kakashi knew how much the boy suffered in this moment.

The medic gave Kakashi a look, and told him to leave the room again as he continued to push his chakra into Sasuke's deep wound. The result was a loud cry of agony. Kakashi couldn't bear it any longer but in the same time, he knew the medics only did that to help Sasuke. However he didn't leave the room because he wouldn't let Sasuke went through that alone. He wanted to be there for him. Without another word, he stepped towards the examination table, where Sasuke was, and placed his hand on Sasuke's head, while he grabbed Sasuke's free hand with his own.

"What do you want?" the medic asked. "We need to hurry and we don't need any distraction."

"I won't distract you; I only want to be here for him. He is still a child and this is too much to bear for him alone." Kakashi said and let his fingers slid through Sasukes unruly hair. The boy's hair was wet from sweat.

To his surprise, the medic nodded. The two medics strengthened their hold on Sasuke, as the third medic was ready to continue with his work.

Sasuke knew what this meant. Shortly after he was awake and his vitals were steady again, the medics had begun with this painful treatment and the end was not in sight. Sasuke was desperate, he couldn't bear with this any longer. He realized that Kakashi was there and he looked up with pleading eyes as the medic got ready to continue. "Please... Make them stop! I can't bear it any longer..."

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." Was the only answer Kakashi could give to his suffering student. And a second later, Sasuke cried again after the medic began with the treatment again.

Kakashi closed his eyes and tried to block out Sasukes cries and in the same time, he tried to comfort his student with soothing words. "Shh. You'll be fine. You'll make it, I know it. You're such a strong boy."

He knew that he couldn't do more in that situation besides trying to comfort Sasuke and be there for him. The procedure continued for a couple of minutes, and after the medics were finally finished, the medic bandaged Sasuke's arm again. Meanwhile Sasuke was crying and the boy bit his lips, a desperate attempt not to break down into childish sobs. Kakashi willed his tears away and looked at the medic.

"His arm will be alright, don't worry." the medic said and smiled for the first time. "We will fix his leg and then he can finally rest."

Sasuke stiffened after he heard these words. He couldn't bear with that again! He looked at his sensei, but Kakashi only gave him a serious nod and Sasuke knew it had to be done. He was a smart boy and he knew that he needed this treatment, but that didn't change the fact that he was suffering. He only wished that this torture would end!  
Kakashi held Sasuke down on his shoulders, while the two medics grabbed his ankles. Sasuke knew he couldn't escape from this and so he tried to brace himself to go through this again. The medic started and Sasuke cried again. Fresh tears appeared in his eyes and he tried to push himself up, but Kakashi and the medic had a firm hold of him. The procedure only lasted for a couple of minutes, because this wound was not as deep as the wound on his arm. Sasuke was so relieved when the medics finally finished and Kakashi felt the same.

After that Sasuke was brought into another room, so that he could finally rest. When Sasuke was tucked in on the bed, he fell asleep almost at once. Kakashi sent Pakkun to Naruto and Sakura, because he didn't want to leave Sasuke alone. The shock still sat in his bones and he tried to calm down. He closed his eyes and mumbled. "I'm so glad..."

After many hours, Sasuke finally woke up again. He blinked because the light hurt his eyes and looked directly to the relieved face of his sensei.

"How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked, concerned.

"Okay... I guess..." Sasuke mumbled and noticed how dry his throat was.

Kakashi seemed to know what Sasuke thought and helped the boy up to a sitting position and placed a cup with water on Sasuke's lips carefully. Sasuke gulped down the water hastily.

"Hey, slowly. You'll choke yourself." Kakashi quickly said.

Sasuke ignored his sensei's warning and gulped down the rest of the water. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"Only a couple of hours." Kakashi said and placed the cup on the table. "You have frightened me so much. How did this happened, Sasuke?"

"I wandered off too far... I guess, I accidentally went into the territory of the tiger..." Sasuke explained.

"That's why I told you three to stay together and not wander too far away." Kakashi said and his tone automatically changed into a scolding and strict tone. "You could be dead, Sasuke! Only because you were so stupid to be separated from your teammates and ignored my orders!"

"I know... And I'm sorry. But I have never seen a tiger and he was so beautiful. I was so fascinate that I let my guard completely down. I have observed him for a while, but then he noticed me and attacked suddenly..." Sasuke said and gulped as he recalled the memory. "It's so sad that I have to kill him... He was really so beautiful..."

Kakashi's eyes widened out from surprise. He thought he had heard Sasuke wrong. Had Sasuke really said this? His Sasuke who was always so distant, who was obsessed with revenge, regretted that he had killed an animal? He couldn't help but smiled under his mask. His anger almost vanished once he heard these words from Sasuke. And he realized that Sasuke was still a child. The way that Sasuke thought wasn't different from Naruto, Sakura or any other twelve-year-old and Kakashi was thankful for that.

"Don't worry. You killed him not on purpose. It was necessary or else you would be dead now." Kakashi said.

Sasuke nodded. "I know."  
"But don't ever do that again." Kakashi warned. "Never scare me like that again."

"Yes..."

And with that, Kakashi bent forward and pulled Sasuke into a hug.

"I'm glad you're alright." He finally said. And all was forgiven.

**Special thank to een nihc for her great help :)**


	8. Sleepless Night

**Sleepless Night**

Sasuke panted heavily. He sat straight up on his bed and clenched his fists, while he was trying desperately to get his breathe under control. He had waked up from a nightmare and because this dream felt so real, he was terrified. Like always, he had dreamed about his parents, on that terrible night when his own older brother had killed them. Sasuke's heart ached so much whenever he thought about it and this bad dream only brought the memories back to life. The young Uchiha didn't know how long he had dreamed but it felt like an eternity.

He could recall every single detail from this event and it drove him insane. Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to block out the images of his parents' dead bodies, tried to forget the red sharingan of his murderous older brother and his brother's cruel words which was ringing in his head.

But it was useless. He still could see those horrible images and hear his brother's words nevertheless. He opened his eyes again and looked desperately into the darkness. His dream had felt so real and the memories were haunting him. He suddenly felt so overwhelmed that he couldn't bear it any longer to stay in his room. He only wanted to get out from there, as if he could run away from his memories by doing so. Without a second thought, Sasuke stormed out from his apartment into the fresh night air outside. He didn't care that it was raining. He didn't care either that he was only wearing his pjamas or that he was barefooted. He ran through Konoha's empty streets aimlessly. He felt like Itachi would hurt him again and he tried to run away from those terrible images before his eyes.

But the images stayed before his eyes, no matter how fast he ran. Sasuke didn't realize how drenched he already was; he continued to run although his chest already hurt and his breathe hitched. He ran as fast as he could, while he closed his eyes and tried again to block those images out, but to no avail. He could still see every detail from that terrible night and this nightmare was one of the worst he ever had.

Sasuke continued to run in the rain. He only wanted to forget everything but it was impossible.

When a pair of strong hands suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, Sasuke panicked. He imagined it was Itachi before him and he thought that murderer was back. Without thinking, Sasuke began to struggle and tried to free himself. But the strange hands grabbed his wrists.

"No! Let go of me!" Sasuke cried. Fear grew inside him as he realized that he couldn't free himself from that grip.

"Calm down." Said a voice which he knew really well. "It's me."

A second later, Sasuke felt a strong grip on his face, which forced him to look into the concerned face of his sensei. The raven haired boy breathed heavily, while his heart pounded like crazy in his chest. When he realized who was standing before him, Sasuke immediately stopped fighting, but Kakashi grabbed his shoulders tightly as he looked at his student.

"What happened? Why are you outside in the middle of the night?" Kakashi asked and checked the boy for any injuries. He just came back from a mission, when he saw Sasuke storming through the dark and rainy night. Kakashi was wearing a long white raincoat, but when he noticed how wet his student was, he pulled the coat out and put him over Sasuke's shoulders. "You're totally wet. And you are barefooted too. Did something happen?"  
Unable to find the words, Sasuke could only shake his head. It was when his sensei pulled the coat around his body that he realized how cold it was. Sasuke began shaking, but at the same time, he felt safe. He didn't know why but Sasuke had the feeling that now that his sensei was here, nothing could happen to him and his fear vanished.

Kakashi felt concerned. He knew that something was wrong or else he wouldn't found Sasuke outside at midnight, drenched in the rain. But he decided to ask his questions later, because first, he wanted to bring Sasuke home. "Come on, I'll bring you back home."

To his surprise, Sasuke made no protest as he scooped him up in his arms. It seemed that Sasuke didn't care and so Kakashi brought the boy back to his apartment. When they arrived, Kakashi put Sasuke down on his feet again. Sasuke didn't move from the spot where Kakashi had left him. He was still very confused and the memories of the massacre were still present in his head.

The silver haired jounin began to search for fresh and dry clothes for Sasuke. He pulled out a fresh blue pjamas from the dresser and a towel which he used to dry Sasuke's wet hair. Sasuke didn't respond or protest; he simply let it go. And he didn't care either.

"Come change your clothes and then we'll talk." Kakashi said as he placed the pjamas in Sasuke's arm.

Sasuke looked up and he knew that Kakashi was smiling under his mask. Somehow he had the feeling that Kakashi already knew what was wrong and so he nodded and went to his bathroom.

Meanwhile Kakashi waited patiently for Sasuke. He was sure that he knew what the problem was. Sure, Sasuke had some nightmares again and this was the reason why he had found the child during the night outdoors in Konoha's empty streets. The jounin sensei knew that Sasuke suffered from nightmares from time to time. This was no surprise after everything the child went through. And he understood it perfectly. When he was younger, he suffered nightmares too. He had needed years to come to terms with his past and even today, he sometimes found himself dreaming about the horrible memories.

But now it wasn't so difficult to handle this anymore. He was an adult and he was an experienced shinobi. But Sasuke was still a child and he felt that it was his obligation to help his student through this. Plus, he wanted to be there for him.

After a couple of minutes, Sasuke walked back into the room. He wore the fresh clothes and sat obediently next to Kakashi.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked and went straight to the point.

Sasuke didn't answer and looked down to his knees. He felt so confused and ashamed about his own behaviour. It was humiliating that Kakashi had found him like that, but he was suddenly terrified about everything and he had only wanted to run away. But how should he explain this to his sensei?

Kakashi sighed inwardly. "I see you don't want to talk right now. I'm worried about you and you should know that you can tell me everything. Sasuke, I need to know when something is bothering you. I want to make sure you are alright and today I know this is definitely not the case."

The young boy took a deep breath. He was unsure if he should tell his sensei or not. It was difficult for Sasuke to put his feelings into words and it was even more difficult for him to share his feelings with somebody. Sasuke trusted Kakashi. His sensei had never given him a reason not to but that didn't change the fact that he had problems to be honest, especially when it came to admitting his own weakness. He didn't look up as he tried to tell his sensei a half hearted lie. "It's nothing. I wasn't tired, that's all."

"Do you honestly expect me to believe this nonsense?" Kakashi asked and forced the boy to look him straight into the eyes by holding the boy's face. "Did you have a nightmare again?"

Sasuke's cheeks flushed a little red, because he felt embarrassed. He hated it when his sensei looked through him. It was always like this - as if he could hide nothing from Kakashi and this scared him sometimes, because it reminded him so much of his mother or his brother. When he thought about his parents... his heart throbbed painfully. He closed his eyes and took another deep breathe.

"Sasuke." Kakashi interrupted his thoughts. "We'll sit here until you tell me what was bothering you. I think I know it already, but I want to hear it from you. And no matter what, you don't need to be ashamed of anything."

"It's easy for you to say..." Sasuke muttered and tried to get his face free from Kakashi's grip.

The silver haired jounin sighed. "Do you know something, Sasuke? I've been through the same thing like you. When I was your age, nightmares tormented me almost every night. The past was haunting me, even now I didn't get free completely from everything. Everyone has nightmares sometimes. But I know my nightmares and yours are worse because it was about our past. Am I wrong?"

The young Uchiha heir let his sensei's words sank in slowly. It was difficult to think that Kakashi, who always seemed to know everything and who seemed to be strong always, had nightmares too. But maybe that was the reason why his sensei could understand him so well. Sasuke avoided his sensei's eyes, but Kakashi still held his face in his hand. Kakashi's words made sense and Sasuke felt that he was understood and he didn't need to be ashamed of his own weakness.

"You're right, Kakashi. I... I've dreamt about..." Sasuke couldn't bring himself to speak out loud about his parents' death.

Kakashi let go of Sasuke face and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. He knew exactly how Sasuke felt and he knew that words alone couldn't help the young Uchiha.

"Do you know in time, it will be easier? It won't go away but the pain will be easier to handle. You already felt it, right?"

Sasuke nodded. "I know. When we were training or went on missions, I didn't need to think about my family every day. But then..." Sasuke stopped, unsure whether he should share his thoughts with Kakashi or not.

Kakashi squeezed his shoulder as a sign that he should continue. Sasuke took a deep breath before he continued. "When I came home in the evening, sometimes I feel so lonely... And then I think about them so much... I miss them and when I fell asleep... All that I dreamed off were..."

Sasuke closed his eyes; he couldn't bring himself to continue. This was fine. He didn't need to say another word; Kakashi already knew what Sasuke wanted to say. He knew by his own experience. The pain which you feel when you came home in the evening and nobody was there. Every evening is a reminder of what you have lost. A reminder that you're alone and your family is gone. Kakashi put his arm around Sasuke's shoulder and pulled him close.

"I know. You don't need to say another word." Kakashi said as he stroked through Sasuke's soft black hair. "I understand you perfectly."

"I've dreamt everything about... that night..." Sasuke swallowed hard. "And after I finally woke up... I only wanted to run away... So I went outside in an attempt to leave everything behind me..."

"Sshh." Kakashi hushed. "I know what you are talking about."

Sasuke leaned closer to Kakashi. It felt so good that someone was there for him and that he didn't have to be alone.

"I was worried when I found you outside in the rain." Kakashi said. "But I know your reason for this. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you today. I just came back from a mission today when I saw you."

"Sorry..." Sasuke whispered.

"You don't need to apologize for anything, Sasuke. I know how you feel. But let me tell you something, if you have a nightmare again, come to me or call me, I don't care what time it is. Please promise me that you will not to try to shoulder everything alone." Kakashi said.

Sasuke nodded. "It was just... so overwhelming today..."

"I know." Kakashi said. "Just promise me to come to me, when this happens again."

"I promise..."

"Very well… then I think it's time for you to go to bed again."

The little Uchiha looked up at his sensei. "I don't think I can sleep again today."

"But you have to try. Tomorrow is training again and you need rest, Sasuke." Kakashi said with a soft but firm tone. "Come, let's try it out. I'll stay with you tonight. I promise I won't leave you alone."

"But..."

Kakashi grabbed Sasuke and carried him over to his bed. Kakashi pulled the blanket away and placed Sasuke on the bed while he tucked the boy in. Kakashi himself sat down on the bed and patted Sasuke's head. "Try to sleep, Sasuke. I'll stay here."

"When... when I dream bad dreams again... will you wake me up?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course I will." Kakashi replied. "Now close your eyes. Nothing will happen. I'm here."

Sasuke hesitated for a moment but he nodded and closed his eyes. He felt surprisingly secure. Kakashi was there and Sasuke felt that nothing could happen to him, as long as his sensei stayed by his side. So it didn't take him long for the boy to fall into in a deep sleep.

Kakashi observed his sleeping student. And even when the boy looked extremely cute when he was asleep, Kakashi felt extremely sorry for his student. Sasuke had gone through so much, too much to bear for a twelve year old child in fact. The poor boy needed someone who would watch out for him and care for him and Kakashi had no qualms to take that role. He loved Sasuke so much and he would help him to get better. He promised to himself that he would be there for Sasuke, no matter what.

Sasuke slept soundly that night till morning. He knew he was not alone this time.

**Special Thanks to een nihc :) She is a amazing Beta.**

**And please let me know what you think and review! **


	9. Great Expectation

**Great Expectation**

"Alright, I'll show it to you once and then you three try it out by yourself." Kakashi said as he watched the eager faces of his students. Kakashi was about to teach his team water-walking, which meant that his students needed to concentrate their chakra in the feet. This needed absolute and delicate chakra control. Kakashi knew from the tree climbing exercise that Naruto and Sasuke had difficulty with that. But the water-walking was a lot more difficult than the tree climbing and it was possible that his students would need a lot of time to learn it.

Kakashi gathered his chakra in his feet and walked on the water surface.

"Wow!" Naruto cried as he watched how his sensei managed to walk on the water with ease.

"It's important that you concentrate completely and don't allow yourself any distraction. If you use too much or too little chakra, it will not work and you'll fall into the water." Kakshi explained as he walked back to the shore.

"I'll try it out. It looks mega cool!" Naruto was really excited to try it out.

"Naruto, slow down!" Sakura said and looked threateningly at her teammate. "Sasuke-kun and I needed to concentrate too and it's impossible to do so when you are so loud!"

"Opps, sorry..." Naruto mumbled sheepishly before his voice changed to a loud tone again. "Hey Sasuke, I bet I'll master this a lot faster than you!"  
"Hn." Sasuke snorted and smirked at his teammate. "Maybe in your dreams, deadlast."  
Naruto wanted to curse at Sasuke but Kakashi interrupted and drew the attention from his genin back to him.

"Stop fighting!" Kakashi said with a bored tone. "I don't want you making bets on something like this. Each one of you can master this but if someone needs more time, then this is absolutely okay and doesn't mean that he is worse than the others."

The three genin nodded, before they got ready to gather their chakra.

"Just don't go too far out on the lake. If you go too far, then you'll have to swim back." Kakashi smiled and sat down, as he pulled out his Icha Icha book and began reading, not paying much attention to his genin.

Meanwhile the genin began with the exercise. In the beginning, all three had their problems: they all failed to stay on the water surface. But after a couple of minutes in training, Sakura already managed to take some steps without falling into the water. And what surprised everyone was that Naruto managed to take some steps too. Although still not as far as Sakura but this was Naruto!

Kakashi looked up from his book and watched his genin. Sakura did great but he had already expected this but what him surprised more was the fact that Naruto was already able to walk on the water surface too. His gaze wandered to his last student. Other than Sakura and Naruto, Sasuke still had not taken one step on the surface. He could see how the boy struggled to master this exercise but every try seemed in vain. Kakashi could tell that the young Uchiha grow more and more frustrated and Naruto's loud laughter directed at him didn't help at all. Kakashi stood up because he wanted to see what exactly Sasukes problem was. As he walked over, he couldn't help but smiled proudly at Sakura and Naruto. He had never expected that Naruto would be able to do this before Sasuke but the boy had shown him otherwise. Meanwhile Naruto and Sakura could already walk to the middle of the lake, while Sasuke still couldn't take one step on the water surface.

Sakura and Naruto waved at Kakashi.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto yelled happily. "Did you see it? I can do it!"

Kakashi chuckled in response to the boy's happiness. It was obvious that Naruto was more than happy about the fact that he had mastered it before Sasuke. He waved back as he shouted, "Good job, you two! I'm really proud of you!"

Sakura and Naruto beamed at Kakashi's praise, before they continued their way on the water surface. The jonin sensei's attention was now directed to his raven student. Sasuke looked down, his feet were still planted in the water and the water reached his knees' level. Kakashi could see that the boy was really frustrated and maybe a little bit humiliated too.

Kakashi sighed as he walked towards Sasuke and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Alright, tell me exactly what your difficulties are."

Sasuke didn't looked up as he began to speak. "I don't know."

"Then show me, so that I can see where exactly your mistakes are." Kakashi commanded as he took a step back. He watched his student carefully. He watched as Sasuke tried to gather his chakra to his feet and the boy failed almost immediately to take one step on the surface. Kakahi knew at once what the problem was and he sighed mentally. It was unusual that Sasuke had such a hard time in training.

"It's enough, Sasuke." Kakashi said and stopped the boy in his desperate attempts to master this exercise.

Sasuke let it go and stumbled through the water before Kakashi. He felt humiliated and avoided eye contact with his sensei.

"I can tell what your problem was." Kakashi began to explain. "You mold your chakra completely wrong. You use too much chakra and you can't mold the exact amount of chakra. If you continue like how you did just now, you'll never master it."

Sasuke's frustration grew after he heard Kakashi's words. "I'm trying, but..."

"I know you are trying but at this moment, it is useless to continue." Kakashi interrupted. "Your chakra control is absolute not okay and until you make sure you can mold your chakra correctly, this exercise is useless."

"But what should I do then?" Sasuke asked and he felt like a failure.

"Go to the shore and meditate until you can mold your chakra better. This will help and maybe in a couple of days, you can try this exercise again." Kakashi said.

"But..."

"Sasuke, if you continue now, it will bring you nowhere. So please don't be difficult and do what I say." Kakashi pointed to the shore.

With clenched fists, Sasuke went out from the water. He felt so terrible and humiliated that he had failed so badly in this simple training exercise, while the dobe and even Sakura managed it almost instantly. He felt so disappointed with himself that he felt tears welling up in his black eyes, as he sat down and began to meditate. He couldn't concentrate on the meditation as he heard Naruto and Sakura went back to the shore as well. Sasuke opened his eyes and watched his sensei went to his teammates.

"You two must be really tired now." Kakashi said and ruffled Naruto's hair with affection.

"I'm not tired but very hungry." Sakura replied and showed her smile openly.

"Hmm. I think you two did such a great job today that I'll treat you to something to eat."

"Ramen, ramen, ramen!" Naruto yelled and jumped at Kakashi. "Sensei, you are the best!"

Kakashi laughed. "Alright, I'll tell Sasuke that we're leaving."

"Sensei, why won't Sasuke come with us?" Sakura asked and it was obvious that the fact that her crush couldn't come along with them troubled her.

"No, he can't." Kakashi said simply. "He has to meditate until sundown, or else he can never learn water walking. And until he is able to do it too, I can't allow him to waste any time. Plus I'm sure he is so stubborn that he wants to learn it first too."

Naruto laughed. "It's a great feeling to be better in something than Sasuke. Maybe he is not so great after all!"

"Don't insult Sasuke-kun ever again!" Sakura barked and smacked Naruto on the head.

"Ooowww! Sakura-chan..." Naruto whined.

Kakashi smiled as he watched the duo, before he turned around and walked over to Sasuke. Sasuke looked up when Kakashi stood before him.

"I want you to continue to meditate until sundown. Your teammates and I will be going to Ichiraku's, they deserved it after all. When you are finished, you can come and join us, or else I'll see you tomorrow morning." The jonin sensei said and ruffled Sasuke's hair.

Sasuke blinked. The only answer he was able to give was a short nod. He noticed how his chest throbbed painfully after Kakashi turned around and left with his two teammates. He couldn't explain where this painful feeling in his chest came from but Sasuke suddenly felt so hurt and despised by Kakashi.

It was always him, who get Kakashi's attention because he was normally the best of all three in training. He was not used to failing so badly like that day and he felt so ashamed of that fact. It had humiliated him so much that Naruto and Sakura were so much better than him and he hated himself for that. If he was honest, he had hoped that Kakashi would stay with him and try to help him until he was able to do the water-walking too. But his sensei didn't seem to have interest in this and rather went to Ichiraku's with his other students. Maybe Kakashi was so disappointed with him because of his failure that he didn't want to share Sasuke's company anymore.

If he was honest, he knew that feeling very well. When his parents were still alive, he had always tried to do everything perfectly, because he wanted acknowledgement from his father. But it was always when he thought he had done something good, his brother had done it better and that was why his father had never bothered to spend some time with him. He was always a failure compared to his brother and Sasuke could still feel the pain in his chest, every time his father had turned his back to him, only to spend all his time with his brother.

Sasuke tried to deny that he felt the same this time but it was useless. The truth was he felt very hurt. After Kakashi became his sensei, Sasuke had always felt that Kakashi gave him a lot of attention and he had always enjoyed it. But now... He knew that Kakashi only cared for him when he did everything perfectly. If he made a mistake, he would get shoved to the side, like how his father always did with him.

The thought that Kakashi liked his teammates better than him, hurt him. He noticed how a couple of tears welled up, but the stubborn boy refused to let them fall. He couldn't concentrate to meditate any longer and so he stand up. He wanted to know what Kakashi and his teammates doing. He suddenly felt so jealous of Naruto and Sakura. Kakashi spent his time with the duo, while Sasuke sat here alone!

Maybe Kakashi thought he was a failure and because of that, he was disappointed with Sasuke. Sasuke always had the feeling that he and Kakashi were connected with each other. He had always thought that his sensei cared for him more than his teammates and that they both shared a lot of similarities in character too. Because of that, he hadn't felt so alone anymore. But now... Now Kakashi wanted to spend his time with Naruto and Sakura and not with him anymore!

With hasty steps, he went to Ichiraku's and what he saw stabbed his chest painfully again. Kakashi sat in the middle while Naruto sat on his right and Sakura on his left side. They were laughing and Kakashi ruffled the heads of his teammates with affection.

"This two will be great shinobis someday." He heard Kakashi say to Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku's. "I'm so proud that I can watch over them until then."

"Exactly! And then I'll be the Hokage!" Naruto yelled and Kakashi chuckled.

Sasuke couldn't bring himself any longer to watch this scene. It was obvious that Kakashi didn't cared for him anymore. He was only good enough for his sensei when he managed to do everything perfectly, but now after he failed so badly in such a simple exercise, his sensei didn't want to spend time with him anymore.

The tears welled up again and Sasuke turned around and stomped away from his team. He wanted to cry and he didn't want to see anyone from his team again!

As he arrived home, he didn't bother to take off his shoes. He only sat down on the floor and pushed his face against his knees as he began to cry silently. He felt so lonely in this moment, as he realized that Kakashi had only cared for him as long as he played the part of a perfect Uchiha. His sensei had no other interest in him, like everyone else. Everyone expected that he would be perfect and because of that he worked himself until exhaustion, because he wanted to honor his family name. He already knew that nobody cared about Sasuke, the person. They all wanted a strong Uchiha for the village and until now, he had always thought his sensei had honest interest on him as a person. But he was really mistaken.

It seemed that Kakashi had always liked Sakura and Naruto more than him. Because if those two made mistakes, Kakashi never ignored them. But Sasuke was supposed to do everything perfectly, because he was an Uchiha, like what his father had always told him. He really believed that Kakashi cared for him as Sasuke not as the Uchiha heir or as a weapon for Konoha. But now he knew the truth and it hurts. He felt so lonely in this moment and he hated himself for his failure in training.

He couldn't stand the thought of betrayal again. Not after his brother did the same with him. Kakashi was the first and only person which Sasuke had trust after the massacre and he would never admit it out loud but he admired his sensei so much. He was like a role model for him. And now he only felt betrayed and a burning feeling of jealousy in his stomach. He didn't want to see any of his teammates again and Sasuke swore that he would never trust and care for someone again. From now on, he would only live for himself. He didn't need Kakashi for training, since from now the jonin only looked out for Naruto and Sakura. And so Sasuke decided he would never join this team again. He didn't want to see them again and especially not Kakashi (this damned traitor).

In the next morning, Kakashi arrived late like always at the training ground. He was really more than surprised as he only saw Naruto and Sakura there and he felt worry grew inside him. It was unusual that Sasuke would miss training and this could only meant that the boy was sick. Kakashi hoped that Sasuke didn't overdo it yesterday in training, after him and his other two students left.

"Kakashi sensei." Sakura said at once when she saw their seinsei. "Sasuke still isn't here. I'm worried."

"Maybe that bastard is scared of me, because I'm now better than him." Naruto said with a wide smile.

"Stop insulting Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried and raised her fist threateningly.

"I hardly doubt that this is the case." Kakashi mumbled, more like to himself. Sure, he knew that Sasuke had felt humiliated that Naruto and Sakura had mastered it before him, but this would be no reason for Sasuke to miss training. In fact, Kakashi was sure that the boy would be more determined to master it.

"Maybe he is sick..." Sakura said and glanced with worry in her eyes.

"Or he only overslept and is now scared to show up." Naruto laughted but a glare from Sakura silenced him.

"I'll go and look for him." Kakashi said after a moment. "Naruto, Sakura, please begin to run some laps and then practice the water-walking again. When I'm back, we can start something new."

He didn't wait for his students to respond, he disappeared in a puff of smoke almost immediately.

Kakashi went straight to Sasuke's apartment. He was sure that Sasuke couldn't be alright, because the boy would never miss training without a good reason. He knocked on the door, more than three times but nobody opened. He grew a little bit worry and he wanted to make sure that Sasuke was alright. He pulled out a key from his pocket, which he got from the Hokage when he became sensei of team 7. Because he should look out for the boy. Without hesitation, he unlocked the door and stepped in. He was really surprised as he went inside the apartment and found it empty.

He growled under his mask, because he couldn't understand where Sasuke was. Something must have happened and his worry grew as seconds passed by. He decided he should look outdoors for the boy. Maybe he got hurt or something and it would be the best that he checked the hospital too.

The Jonin sensei was only a couple of steps away from Sasukes apartment, when he suddenly saw the young Uchiha came out from a shop. He sighed in relief, because the boy seemed to be alright. Nevertheless, he suddenly felt angry. This stupid boy worried him so much, while he ran through Konoha's streets , when he was supposed to be training with his team. When Sasuke turned around, he saw his sensei. He seemed shocked for a moment but then, the boy turned around again and made his way in the other direction. He completely ignored Kakashi.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" Kakashi yelled, as Sasuke ignored him and walked away. "Come here, right now!"

Sasuke didn't listen and continued to walk away. But it was obvious that he walked faster, after Kakashi's command. Kakashi became furious about Sasuke's disrespectful behaviour. A second later, the Jonin appeared right before Sasuke. The boy gasped in shock.

"I want an explanation why you are on the streets, when you are supposed to be in training." Kakashi asked and didn't bother to hide his fury.

Sasuke blinked. He didn't know if he should answer or not. He only wanted to avoid his sensei. And after yesterday, he had no intention to give Kakashi an explanation. Hell, Kakashi had showed him that he didn't care about him and so his sensei didn't need any explanation from him. He should go back to Naruto and Sakura, his new favourite students and leave him alone!

"Sasuke?" Kakashi's voice brought Sasuke back to the reality. "What is wrong with you, all of the sudden?"  
Sasuke couldn't believe what Kakashi just said. First, he ignored him for Naruto and Sakura and now he acted as if nothing had happened. The boy snorted as he tried to continue his way again. But this time, Kakashi grabbed his arm and stopped him in his tracks.

"Maybe it wasn't clear when I said I want an explanation from you. You'll tell me exactly why you think to behave in such irresponsible way and then we'll go straight to the training field. Am I understood?" Kakashi's voice sounded firm and normally Sasuke wouldn't test his sensei any longer when he was in this mood.

But it was nothing normal anymore. Kakashi didn't care about him anymore and he was hurt. Sasuke had always thought that he and Kakashi were connected in a special way but it seemed that he was really mistaken. He tried to break free from Kakashi's hold, but it didn't work.

Kakashi noticed this immediately. He could see that something was wrong with the boy and that something must had bothered Sasuke. His anger vanished as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his student.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" He asked with concern.

"Everything is fine, just leave me alone!" Sasuke snapped.

"Then why didn't you show up to train? Were you frustrated about yesterday? I already told you, that you just need to improve your chakra control." Kakashi said.

"This has nothing to do with that!" Sasuke growled. "It's none of your business, just leave me alone already!"

"It is my problem when you didn't show up to your training session." Kakashi said with a clear voice. "I'm your sensei and it's your obligation to let me know when something is bothering you. And I would like to remind you that I have permission to punish you, if you didn't give a reasonable explanation for skipping trainning."

Sasuke looked down. He already knew by experience that Kakashi wasn't the type of man whom you could fool. His sensei had a lot of patience with his students, but if you crossed the limit of his patience, he knew that Kakashi would take action. He was not a stranger to Kakashi's punishments and he didn't want to upset his sensei with his behaviour. He only felt so... He didn't know it anymore. He felt hurt and disappointed and he wanted to scream all his emotions in Kakashi's face, but he was ashamed of his own feelings. He felt so lonely and it was clear that his sensei understood nothing. _Why should he? _Sasuke thought. _He showed yesterday that he didn't care about me anymore, so why should he have interest in my problems? _

"Sasuke!" Kakashi interrupted his thoughts. "I'm talking to you!"

This time Sasuke couldn't control his emotions as he yelled. "Shut up! You know exactly what's wrong! So leave me alone, like you did yesterday and go back to your favourite students! They are waiting for you, so you don't need to bother with me!"

Before Kakashi could react, the boy pulled himself free from Kakashi and ran away. He could see that Sasuke dissapeared into his apartment block. He sighed deeply and recalled Sasuke's words. Suddenly he knew what Sasukes problem was. Sasuke felt neglected about yesterday, he thought that he cared more for Naruto and Sakura! His raven haired student was jealous!

At first, he didn't know why Sasuke would think such things but then he came to the conclusion that he was maybe a little distance to Sasuke. And maybe he had really spent more time with Naruto and Sakura yesterday. But it was not on purpose. Kakashi cared for all his students deeply but he had a special affection for Sasuke and normally this was obvious. The thought that Sasuke doubt this, hurt him and he wanted to fix this. He didn't hesitate any longer as he went straight to Sasuke's apartment door and unlocked the door again, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't let him in.

Sasuke was sitting on the floor, with his back leaned against his bed. He didn't looked up as Kakashi entered his room.

The grey haired Jonin sat down on Sasuke's side on the floor. "Do you honestly think that I care more for your teammates than for you, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. So Kakahsi had figured out what was wrong? But why did he came here? Shouldn't he be with Naruto and Sakura? "I've failed in training yesterday while Naruto and Sakura could do it... So it´s only natural that you favored those two."

Kakashi sighed and shook his head. "Sasuke, that's nonsense. I've never favoured any one of you in training. And you should know that in private life I care more..."

"Don't make any excuses!" Sasuke interrupted. "I know exactly that I lost my worth in your eyes yesterday!"

"That's not true, Sasuke." Kakashi said firmly. He couldn't believe that Sasuke really thought that he didn't cared for him only because of yesterday's training.

"Of course it is." Sasuke said but this time he looked down. "I've seen you and those two idiots yesterday in Ichiraku's. You had so much fun with them... While..."

It was obvious that Sasuke was hurt and this pained Kakashi. He didn't know that Sasuke came over to Ichiraku's yesterday. He hadn't noticed his student. He understood his student a little bit better now. He knew that he was the only adult in Sasuke's life who would be there for the boy. And he already often thought of Sasuke like a son. And now he realized that Sasuke thought in some ways of him as a father figure too. He had a special connection with Sasuke and normally they spent a lot of time with each other. Maybe yesterday was a little too much for Sasuke. First he failed in training, which was already bad enough for the boy and then he went off with Naruto and Sakura.

Maybe he shouldn't left Sasuke alone yesterday. He knew that the boy was a really sensitive child inside. After the massacre, he was the first adult whom Sasuke trust enough. He didn't want Sasuke to believe such things, he had to fix it.

"Listen to me. I'm sorry if you feel bad about yesterday but there is no need to be jealous of Naruto or Sakura, because they are your teammates and my students too. It's only natural that I would spend some time with them too but that doesn't mean that I care more for them, than for you."

"You don't need to make excuses." Sasuke said in a low voice. "I know that I'm worthless when I fail in everything and so it's natural that you look for Naruto and Sakura when they did something better."

Kakashi couldn't believe what Sasuke just said. "That's nonsense!"

"No, it's not! I'm used to that. My father had never showed any interest in me, because I was never good in everything. He only had eyes for... " Sasuke couldn't bring himself to say _my brother _or _Itachi. _

But Kakashi already knew what Sasuke wanted to say. He didn't think that it was easy for Sasuke with a genius older brother. Everyone must've compared the two with each other. But that Sasuke's own father had done that... Kakashi couldn't understand this and he found it somewhat cruel. Now he could understand why Sasuke suddenly felt in this way. It was obvious that Sasuke was scared that he could lost him to his teammates, still Kakashi was sure the Uchiha boy wouldn't admit that.

"I understand." Kakashi said. "I'm sorry I let you feel that way. But how can you doubt my affection for you? You should know by now that I care deeply for all three of you. But what you must know by now for sure is that we are both specially connected with each other."

"If this was the case, you wouldn't leave me behind while you were hanging out with those two idiots." Sasuke mumbled.

"I see, you don't want to understand me." Kakashi sighed. "Maybe I should explain a little bit more in detail. For example, Iruka cared very much for Naruto. He told me himself that he loves Naruto like a son. But at same time, he is a teacher too. It's his obligation to care for his students too. And so am I. Naruto and Sakura are important for me, because in some ways, I'm responsible for them."

Sasuke avoided looking at his sensei. Kakashi's words didn't help; in contrary, it made it worse. It was obvious to Sasuke that his sensei cared more for his teammates than for him.

Kakashi continued to speak, "But you should know that I feel responsible for you, even in your private life. You know that I care for you, Sasuke. You have become such an important piece of my life and I never want to miss you. I've told you that I see you as my son in some ways, so why did you doubt my affection so suddenly?"

"Because I've failed so badly and I could feel your disappointment. And then you went away with Naruto and Sakura, without a second thought of me..." Sasuke kept his head low.

"That wasn't my intention. I would never hurt you on purpose, Sasuke and now I feel so sorry that you feel this way only because of me. I don't want you to be so sad and I don't want you to think that I'm disappointed with you, because that's not true." Kakashi looked straight at Sasuke, even when his student kept his head bowed.

"You don't need to lie!" Said Sasuke and looked up. "You told Naruto and Sakura that you were proud of them!"

"Which I always tell you too." Kakashi interrupted. "Which I always tell you far more often than your teammates."

"You let me work on meditation for hours, while Naruto and Sakura always can stop training even when they didn't master the exercises!" Sasuke protested.

Kakashi sighed. He knew that he was always more strict with Sasuke and that he had higher expectations on Sasuke. But he never thought that Sasuke could feel, because of that, neglected. Maybe he was really a little bit thoughtless yesterday. "I only let you work on your meditation because I wanted you to master your chakra control as fast as possible. I know I expect a lot from you..."

"That's why you don't need me anymore, because I failed so badly!" Sasuke yelled.

"No!" Kakashi said firmly and grabbed Sasuke's shoulders and shook the boy lightly. What was his student thinking? "That's absolutely not true. The fact is you didn't disappoint me yesterday. Everyone has difficulties sometimes and nobody is perfect. How can you think that I would shove you aside only because of that? I care for you so much and even when I'm sometimes too strict with you, I only do that because I care. Naruto has Iruka and Sakura has her own family, they are both my students and they are both important to me. But you and I, we have nobody, we have only each other now. Your are family to me now, Sasuke. I want you to never doubt again that I love you."

Sasuke's black eyes widened while his sensei was speaking. Suddenly his words came through him and the boy began to understand that he was wrong. He could see in Kakashi's eyes that he cared and he could hear it in his voice. His heart felt so light and he felt loved. He suddenly felt so sorry, because he had overreacted. Of course Kakashi cared for his teammates too, he did the same even when he would never admit it. How could he doubt that he and Kakashi have a special bond? He felt so ashamed to give his sensei so much trouble. Tears welled up in his eyes and he didn't know what to say, out of reflex, he wrapped his arms around Kakashi's waist.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble..." Sasuke mumbled.

Kakashi was taken aback for a moment as the boy hugged him but after a second, his eye softened and he pulled Sasuke into a firm embrace.

"It's alright." Kakashi said with a soothing voice. "But I never want to hear such nonsense again."

"Yes..."

"And today I'll treat you to lunch. Only the two of us. How does that sound?" Kakashi asked.

"That sounds great."

"But now we need to go to the training field. Our team is waiting and you need to work on your chakra control again." Kakashi said and both of them let go from the embrace.

Sasuke looked down because he didn't want Kakashi to notice that some tears were still on his cheeks. But the jonin came before him, as he gently wiped the tears from Sasuke's cheeks. Sasukes face was flushed red, because of embarrassment.

"If you want, we can train together tomorrow, just the two of us." Kakashi suggested and ignored Sasuke's embarrassment.

"That would be great too." Sasuke smiled and he felt so relieved. His sensei did care after all and this was all was mattered. He swore to himself that he would never doubt that again. Kakashi was not like his father and Sasuke realized that his sensei would never shove him aside. Kakashi would care and help him always, even when not everything was perfect. And suddenly he wanted to tell Kakashi something. "Kakashi... Thank you for being there for me."

Kakashi's eye was bright and he smiled under his mask as he said, "You're welcome. I'll always care. I promise."

**First thanks for the Reviews, it´s really a great support for me :)**

**special thanks to een nihc for her great help with every chapter and for her awesome tittle suggestions. **

**The idea for this chapter came from Pixie07 but I don´t know if this chapter showed a jealous Sasuke well, or if he is a little bit more out of his character, so please let me know what you think and review!**


	10. Mission with complication

**Mission with complication**

Sasuke sighed as he walked right next to his sensei through the forest. He was really annoyed for a simple reason. He and Kakashi were sent to a C rank mission outside of Konoha. Naruto and Sakura were both sick. So this time it was only him and Kakashi. At first he was excited to go out on a C rank mission. He had hoped this would be a lot more fun than the boring D rank missions which he and his teammates always had to do. But now he thought differently. Their client was a rich man from Konoha, who wanted to travel to the next big city. He and Kakashi would protect this man on his way. Their client was such an annoying guy - he only talked about nonsense and Sasuke had the urge to roll his eyes every couple of minutes. He had never seen such a stupid guy before, he was probably worse than Naruto was.

And the journey was so boring, Sasuke wished Naruto and Sakura were here. Maybe the two of them were annoying but at least it wouldn't be so boring like now. Kakashi and their client were talking to each other but Sasuke was left out and the boy ignored the two adults.

"I feel very safe with a Jonin on my side, Hatake-san." The client said to Kakashi and Sasuke rolled his eyes. "If someone wants to attack me, I´m sure you can protect me but what's with the kid? I don´t really understand why he is here."

This was it! Sasuke glared at the man. "Hn, I´m more than capable to handle this mission alone! But your´re such..."

"Sasuke." Kakashi interrupted him with his well known lazy voice. "You will not talk to our client in suchway."

"But, he..."

"Understood?" Kakashi asked his student and he showed him a warm smile under his mask. After the boy nodded, he returned his attention back to the client. "Don't worry, Sasuke may be a child but he possesses great skills and in a couple of years, he'll become one of the best, that's for sure."

The man snorted. "I hope I can trust your word."

"Of course you can." Kakashi replied and went back to talk to the client about some matters.

Sasuke could barely contain his anger. How dare this stupid guy talk about him in such a way? Sure, he was only twelve but he was an Uchiha and everyone in Konoha knew about his abilities. The words of the client hurt his pride and he hated the man for that. Honestly this was the worst mission he had ever done! Sasuke continued to follow his sensei and their client. He stayed a little bit back on purpose. He was so boring! Nothing happened and he almost wished that someone would attack them and that finally something would happen. The young Uchiha doubted that something would happen in this mission anyway. Their client was only a stupid rich civilian who didn´t know where to spend his money and so he hired some shinobi to be his bodyguard. This guy pissed Sasuke off. He could train in this moment rather than wasting his time here. He already had the urge to yawn!

Then suddenly a loud explosion was heard some kilometers away. Sasuke shrugged, he hadn´t expected anything like this. He was on guard at once with kunai ready in both hands. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see how their client was trembling, which gave him a small measure of satisfaction.

"What's this?" The client asked.

Kakashi kept quiet and gave Sasuke a look which told him to stay on guard. Minutes passed until Kakashi relaxed.

"Are we being attacked?" The man was still trembling and his voice was filled with panic.

"It didn´t look like that." Kakashi said. "In any case, we should check out what it was, because the explosion came from the direction on our route."

"Can I going?" Sasuke saw his chance to escape this boring mission. Who knows, maybe some adventure would be waiting for him.

"No, it's too dangerous. We don´t know who or what this was." The Jonin merely answered. "I´ll go myself."

"What?" Sasuke thought he heard him wrong. "But that´s not fair!"

"Then who should protect me?" Their client was totally frightened. Sasuke rolled his eyes. This man was really a chicken!

"Don´t worry, Sasuke and you shall wait for me in a safe place. My student is capable of protecting you." The silver haired Jonin said and completely ignored his student's protest. Finally he gave his attention to Sasuke. "Sasuke, you´ll bring our client back to the village, which we passed half an hour ago. You'll wait there until I come back."

"But that means we will hide there?" Sasuke snorted. It was obvious that the boy couldn´t understand his sensei´s order.

"No, it means you should wait there until I´ve made sure that there are no dangers coming our way." Kakashi corrected. "Then, we can continue our mission."

"I'm coming with you! He is more than capable to go to the village alone!" The Uchiha boy protested.

Kakashi gave his student a hard look. He was a really patient sensei but in a mission, he expected that his Genin obeyed him without question. A mission, no matter how simple it seemed, could always get out of hand. This was why he wanted to check everything before they could continue. He hadn´t expected Sasuke's protest; he had thought the boy was smart enough to know better on a mission. He wouldn't argue with the boy as this would be only a complete waste of time, time they didn´t have.

"A Genin never questions his Superior's orders." Kakashi had nothing more to say.

"But that´s dumb!" Sasuke cried. "You know I can handle this!"

"Get rid of your attitude or I´ll do it for you!" Kakashi snapped at his student. Normally he wouldn't get angry so fast but they were on a mission and Sasuke had to learn to follow orders without question. In the worst case, this could decide life or death, especially on higher rank missions.

Sasuke flinched. He knew Kakashi meant it and so he didn´t dare to protest any further. Without another word, he nodded. His sensei told him to bring the client to the nearest village and stay there until he came back.

He hated it but he had no choice. And so he went on his way with the annoying client. At least the client was quiet because he was scared. Sasuke rolled his eyes again. This guy was really pathetic - there was no apparent reason for him to be so scared. Sasuke didn't really care about the man. He just didn't want to miss out some actions or an awesome fight.

Kakashi stormed towards the direction where the explosion came. It could be harmless but honestly the Jonin had his suspicion. Something like this should not have happened on this route. It was a safe route which often used by civilian in the town. It was unusual that something bad happened on this route, especially in this harmless C rank mission. That was why Kakashi was a little bit confused. He had a bad feeling and as an experienced shinobi, he had learned to trust his instinct as it had often saved his life. This was the reason why he wanted to make sure that Sasuke and the client were safe.

As he continued his way, he saw a second explosion. The Jonin stopped in his tracks. He continued his way slowly and when he was near enough, he hid himself behind some trees. The only thing he saw was fire but Kakashi was sure that he felt the presence of someone else. And he was right! A second later, he was attacked by some shurikens flying towards him, which Kakashi dodged without much effort.

A second wave of attack soon followed and the Jonin dodged or deflected the kunais with his own kunai. Before long, a mysterious man appeared in front of him. The man was wearing a mask but Kakashi could see that he was a shinobi from Kumogakure by looking at his forehead protector.

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked. "And why are you attacking me?"

The Kumo nin chuckled. "I´m well aware of the fact who you are, Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake."

"So?" The silver haired Jonin was surprised but he didn´t show it. He knew that he was a famous shinobi after the Third Shinobi War but he hadn´t expected that this guy confessed that he knew about him so openly. He had a bad feeling about this. Somehow he felt that the Kumo nin wanted something personally from him. "What do you want?"

"Seems like you´ve already forgotten some incidents from the past. I´ll try to help you to remember." The Kumo nin snorted. "Five years ago, the border between the Land of Frost and Land of Hot Water, you were there with your Anbu team and I was there with my team as well. We got into a fight. You killed her without a second thought and destroyed my life." Kakashi raised his eyebrows. He tried to remember. He had killed countless people during his Anbu years and because it was such a dark chapter in his life, he did his best to forget most victims on these missions. Sure, he did his job for the safety of his village but this didn´t made it easier and so it was simpler to forget. But when his enemy removed his mask, Kakashi immediately recognized that face and suddenly he remembered.

Five years ago, he was sent out with his Anbu team to exchange some important scrolls with Kumo ninjas at the country's border. These were important documents and the Hokage gave Kakashi this job as a secret mission. But Konoha and Kumo were not on good terms during that time and so the possibility of a betrayal could exist. The Hokage had ordered him to kill the Kumo ninjas if Kumo tried to betray them. It turned out that the Kumo ninjas wanted their documents but they didn´t want to hand over their own scrolls. To make a long story short, Kumo ninjas attacked, and Kakashi and his team were forced to fight back. He and his team killed almost everyone but he could remember that one of the Kumo nin escaped. He must be the one who got away.

"I remember." The Copy Ninja answered calmly. "But what do you want from me now? We were both on a mission during that time and I did nothing but to complete my mission."

"You killed my wife that day!" The man cried and his face turned red in anger. "She was in my team five years ago and I saw how you killed her with your famous Chidori! I can never forget that moment no matter how hard I tried! She was everything to me and you killed her!"

"We are shinobi and we expect to die in every mission." Kakashi tried to sound calm because he already knew what was the man's intention. "You can´t blame me for something your own village caused. Don´t tell me that you've never killed someone before. You and your team were a threat to my village at that moment and as a shinobi, I´m supposed to get rid of every threat for my village. Now tell me what do you want from me? Revenge?"

The Kumo nin laughed. "I´ve dreamed for years to take revenge upon you! But I knew that I didn't stand any chance against you at that time. So I've trained in every waking moment in the past few years to kill you and avenge my wife! And now the time has come! I´ve observed Konoha for the past few weeks and waited patiently for you to leave the village alone. Finally, today... This will be your end, Hatake!"

Kakashi narrowed his eye. He could understand the feelings of this man. He had lost a lot of people too but in the end, such was the world of shinobi. They were weapons of their village although Kakashi didn't always agree with that. But he didn't have any other choice in that mission where he killed the man's wife. That was his mission. Although becoming a sensei of three genin had changed him in many ways, he would always kill to protect his village and his precious people.

"You are not thinking straight. Kumo would never approve of what you are trying to do now..." Kakashi tried to talk him out of it. It was true that Konoha and Kumo were finally on better terms for the past few years but this could ruin everything and undid whatever progress they had made. "Think for your village. You´ll ruin everything that our villages have worked so hard to rebuild in the last few years! If you attack me, I´ll kill you. And even if you get what you want and kill me, Konoha will take action. There will be another war!"

"I don´t care! Your death is all I want and nothing else doesn´t matter for me!" The Kumo nin yelled.

"You´ll ruin your live..."

"You´re the one who ruined my life! And now you´ll bleed for that!" With that, the man formed hand seals rapidly.

Kakashi´s eye widened and he quickly lifted his forehead protector because he knew he had to use his Sharingan. The Jonin knew that this wouldn´t be an easy fight when he saw the lightning Release technique formed in the Kumo nin's hand.

Meanwhile Sasuke and the client had reached the nearest village. They didn´t spoke a word to each other during the entire journey. They decided to take a break in a little teahouse. Sasuke sighed in annoyance. He wished Kakashi would come soon as it was even more boring than before. But as time passed, the boy grew impatient. This was definitely the worst mission he ever had. He was so happy when Kakashi told him that they would go on a mission together, just the two of them. How stupid! "What takes your sensei so long?" The client asked and snapped Sasuke out of his thoughts. "I need to be in the town before sundown!"

"How should I know?" Sasuke snapped. "If you can't arrive before sundown, that's your problem, not mine."

"How dare you say that, brat?" The client looked at the boy angrily. "Do you know how much money I paid, only to be protected by a Jonin and a spoiled brat?"

Sasuke seemed to completely forgotten about the shinobi rule that says never fight with your client. Usually he was a very obedient and patient Genin if he was on a mission. And if he misbehaved sometimes, his sensei was there to correct him. But now he was alone with that man and the man had provoked him for the whole day. It didn't help that he was still sulking about the fact that Kakashi had left him behind with that man. His patience was already wearing thin and this was the last straw.

"I don´t care how much you paid! The fact is there was no reason for you to hire some bodyguard in the first place, because this is so boring that even a D rank mission involves more action! And let me tell you something, you´re not even important and I doubt that someone has interest on you! You could come this way by yourself and it wouldn´t made any difference!" Sasuke snapped and glared at the client.

"You..." His client huffed. "Someone should teach you some manners!"

Sasuke looked away. He knew that he should be quiet now even if he was angry. This man was still their client and he knew he would get in trouble if the man complains to Kakashi about his behaviour. And so he tried to ignore the man even if he was still really annoyed.

But as time passed, Sasuke grew frustrated with his sensei. Kakashi was away for over an hour and this was definitely a sign that something more must've happened. Maybe Kakashi was fighting some enemies, while he sat here and did nothing. This thought made Sasuke feel jealous. Why should Kakashi have all the fun out there? The young Uchiha had trained so hard in the past few months and he was more than ready to finally prove himself in a mission. Maybe there were some enemies out there to fight and this would be the perfect opportunity for him to show what he had learned.

Maybe he should go and find out what was going on. He had nothing to lose. Even if it´s nothing, he would probably run into Kakashi and they could go back together. Maybe Kakashi would be angry but maybe he could somehow help his sensei in a fight. That would be awesome. He made up his mind. It wouldn´t hurt if he would go and find out by himself what´s going on.

Sasuke stood up from his chair and his client gave him a skeptical look.

"What are you doing?" The man asked.

"It´s not really your business but I´ll go and look what takes Kakashi so long to come back." Sasuke answered.

"What? Your sensei ordered you to stay here and who will protect me if you´re gone?" The client protested.

"Hn. You already told me that a brat like me is not capable of protecting you, so it won't make a difference for you." And with that, Sasuke left.

He ran back towards the direction from where the explosion came. The raven haired boy was really eager to know what Kakashi was doing for so long. The boy was smart and he was absolutely sure that something must be happening. And he hoped that this would be a chance for him to prove his new skills.

Of course Kakashi had no idea that his student was on his way there. He had his hands full with the fight. The man was definitely a skilled Jonin and Kakashi did his best to fight against this man. The first problem was that he realized that the Kumo nin, like him, possessed lighting chakra nature. The enemy could block his chidori perfectly and so Kakashi tried with other jutsu. But the Kumo nin was really strong and so the fight lasted longer than he had first expected.

Honestly, Kakashi didn´t want to kill that man if he could. Even if the circumstances were reasonable, he felt a little bit guilty for him. He was the perfect example for a disgraced shinobi. This was exact what revenge did with someone. But now in this situation, he didn't have any other choice. This man attacked him with the intention to kill him and Kakashi knew if he didn't kill him first, he would be the victim. The Copy Ninja didn´t doubt that he could win this fight but it already lasted too long. He fought for over an hour and the end was still not in sight.

The Kumo nin attacked with that lightning jutsu again and Kakashi summoned his own Chidori in his hand. He knew it would provoke the Kumo nin, because with this was the same jutsu that he used to kill that woman years ago. At the sight of chidori, the Kumo nin's hatred and anger was apparent in his bloodthirsty eyes. This was a good thing for Kakashi, if his enemy was distracted, it would be a lot easier for him to land a strike and end this fight.

The Copy Ninja charged forward and so did the Kumo-nin. The two powerful jutsu collided and created an explosion with resulted both shinobi being flung in opposite directions.

Kakashi panted as he lied down on the ground. His muscles hurt due to the large amount of lightning chakra he had to use and his chakra was low due to the usage of his Sharingan. He had gotten some injuries himself but he knew that the Kumo-nin was in a worse condition. Kakashi propped himself up into a standing position. He saw how the enemy was struggling to stand too. He has a big gaping wound above his chest near his left shoulder and Kakashi knew he had hit him there with the chidori. He was lucky that Kakashi barely missed his heart. But even so, his lung was punctured and Kakashi was confident that he would still be able to put an end to this fight or him soon.

Then he felt suddenly the presence of someone else and a moment later Sasuke jumped out from the trees and landed directly before him. Kakashi couldn't hide his surprise. He hadn´t noticed Sasuke´s presence until now.

"That was awesome, Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke exclaimed and it was obvious that the boy had witnessed the fight for a while. "This guy had no chance against..."

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked angrily but his voice only sounded tired and worried. He had no idea why Sasuke appeared so suddenly but he knew the boy need to go. This fight was still not over yet and this was too dangerous for a young Genin to stay around. "Go back at once!"

Sasuke was confused. He hadn't expected this reaction. Of course it was clear that his sensei would be angry at him for disobeying his direct order but the fight was already over and he couldn´t understand his Sensei´s reaction. He was still too young and inexperienced to understand that a fight with other nation's shinobi is only over if you kill your enemy before he could kill you. Sasuke was twelve and he was only a Genin and even with his tragic past, the boy had never killed someone himself. Because of that, the young Uchiha was still somehow an innocent boy with no idea of the harshness of the shinobi world.

"But Kakashi..."

"Do as I say and go!" Kakashi had only spoken this command as he saw that the stubborn Kumo nin who refused to die was now ready to attack again. A couple of kunais flew in their direction and he had to pull Sasuke to the side or the boy would get hit.

Another attack came and this time Kakashi was able to block it with his own kunai while Sasuke managed to jump out of the way, this time without his sensei´s help.

"Leave, Sasuke, now!" Kakashi yelled at his student, while he moved forward and blocked a kick from the man. The Jonin used his fist and punched the Kumo-nin across the face. Then the Kumo nin leapt back and coughed out some blood.

Sasuke knew he should leave but the fight seemed so exciting that he wished he could participate in it. He knew he could help his sensei and the Kumo nin was almost done anyway.

"Please let me help you!" Sasuke cried at his sensei. "He is almost finished and there is no need for me to leave."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He knew that Sasuke didn´t know that he was at his limit too. The boy wasn´t experienced enough to analyse the battle properly, but Kakashi knew better. And it was too dangerous for Sasuke to interfere in a fight between two Jonin. He was always concerned about his student´s wellbeing and it was obvious that he was worried about Sasuke and wanted the boy to be as far away as possible.

Maybe it was too obvious because the enemy suddenly charged forward, but not in Kakashi´s direction. He ran towards Sasuke. "Sasuke!" Kakashi shouted his student´s name and he followed the Kumo-nin. Sasuke blocked the attack with a kunai but the older nin was far stronger. The boy flew and his back hit against a tree after the man kicked him hard at his stomach.

Kakashi wanted to intercept the man as he noticed how the enemy threw a lot of shurikens at Sasuke. The boy was still holding his stomach in pain and he knew that it was impossible for Sasuke to dodge all of them. He shouted a warning at his student. The only thing he could think in that moment was to protect Sasuke. He wouldn´t let him die. He ran forward as fast as he could and prayed that he could make it in time. He couldn´t do anything to block the attack - it was too late. In the next second, Kakashi threw himself over Sasuke and pushed the boy to the ground. Pain exploded everywhere on his body which he had used to shield Sasuke.

Everything happened so fast. Sasuke was struggling to stand up after the man had kicked him into his stomach. And then suddenly he heard Kakashi screamed, he looked up and saw the shurikens flying directly at him. His breathe hitched as he knew this was it. He couldn´t dodge this anymore. Sasuke closed his eyes and braced himself for the attack but then he suddenly felt someone pushed him down and he heard a painful gasp. Slowly, he opened his eyes as he noticed was now lying on the ground under the protective body of his sensei.

"Sensei!" Sasuke called out frantically. As soon as he wriggled out from Kakashi's body, he could see how the shurikens were sticking out in Kakashi´s back. He also noticed how the usual green Jonin west of his sensei began to soak in crimson blood.

"Sensei!" He shouted again, this time louder with desperation in his voice.

But his sensei didn't answer him and Sasuke wasn´t even sure whether Kakashi still was alive.

"Please, Kakashi..." Sasuke tried again but Kakashi gave no reaction. This was his fault! If only he had done what Kakashi told him and stayed with the client like he was supposed to, his sensei would not... Tears welled up in his eyes as he realized that all this only happened because of him.

Suddenly a loud laughter reached Sasuke's ears. Startled, Sasuke looked up and saw the Kumo nin was now coming straight in his direction.

"So this is the end of the great Kakashi Hatake? He sacrificed himself for a stupid boy... Lucky me. I was already pushed to the edge but then you showed up. So thank you." The Shinobi grinned."And now, I´ll put you out of your misery."

When Sasuke looked into the eyes of the man who had done this to his sensei, he felt hatred rising in his chest. It was the same feeling he felt whenever he thought of his hated older brother. He wanted to hurt this man and make him pay for what he had done! He felt a burning sensation in his eyes as chakra flowed into his eye balls. He could feel it now – the awakening of his Sharingan. The Kumo nin would pay, dearly. He would make sure of it.

Sasuke pulled his legs free from Kakashi´s body and stood up. The Kumo nin was already in a bad shape but it didn't matter for the Uchiha. He couldn't think straight, the burning hatred in his chest consumed him. The feeling to see someone die before your eyes, someone precious to you... Sasuke never wanted to feel this way again. But now this had happened and it was his own fault.

The last thing Sasuke remembered was the widening eyes of the Kumo nin as he ran forward with a kunai in his right hand. Then he lost his mind. The next thing he saw when he was himself again, was blood. Blood was everywhere, on his hands, on his clothes. His breathe hitched as the realization of what he had done finally hit him. His knees buckled and gave way before the dead body of the Kumo nin. A kunai, _his _kunai, embedded directly in the man's heart.

Sasuke's hand began trembling. He had killed a man. He was a murderer! Sasuke stared at his bloody hands. He couldn't gasped for air desperately but he couldn´t breathe... Panic and fear washed over him like waves. He had killed someone... This was his last thought before everything went black.

**First I want to thank een nihc for her great work. She helped me so much with this Chapter :)**

**And I want to thank for the Reviews, it´s really a great support :-)**

**This Chapter will have a continuation in the next Chapter in which Sasuke dealt with his first kill.**

**Please let me know what you think and review!**


	11. Traumatic experience

**Traumatic experience**

Sasuke heard the terrified scream in his ears over and over again. He could see all the blood on his hands and on the floor as he looked into the dead, glassy eyes of that man, whom he had killed with his own hands. He looked down at his hands soaked with the blood of his victim and he knew these were the hands of a murderer. Then everything went black.

And it began all over again. He saw his Sensei dying in front of him, blood was everywhere. Then he saw that strange man, the man who had killed Kakashi. All he could feel was hate and rage consuming him. The next thing he knew was that he killed that man. He had become a murderer.

This time, he screamed as loud as he could.

"Sasuke!"

Someone was calling his name.

"Sasuke, please open your eyes. Everything is fine!"

It was another voice but he couldn´t recognize this voice.

"Sasuke!"

He stopped screaming and panted to control his breathing.

He opened his eyes and blinked but the light hurt his eyes and he pressed his eyes close immediately. He tried it again, this time it was easier and he got used to the light. He blinked several times, before he noticed the two worried faces of his teammates, Naruto and Sakura.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Sakura asked with so much worry that Sasuke felt disgusted.

He sat himself up and observed his surroundings. It was obvious that he was in a hospital room. But how did he get there? And what was the matter? He couldn´t find a single injury on his body.

"How are you feeling?" Naruto asked and his look was almost the same as Sakura´s.

Sasuke avoided his teammates' eyes. He didn´t understood what happened. He was on this mission with Kakashi and the stupid client. Then some explosion happened and Kakashi had sent him back to the nearby village. He knew that he had followed his sensei. And then...

The Uchiha closed his eyes. Kakashi was dead. He saw everything. Dead, because of him. And then he had killed that man without a thought. He was a murderer, just like his hated brother.

But why was he here? Could it be that he had only dreamed about everything? Could it be that nothing happened and everything was still fine? Maybe this was the reason why he woke up in a hospital room and not in the dark forest. Maybe he had only overdone it in training again and he got hurt, and he only couldn´t remember.

"You know..." Naruto started. "You were almost out for one week. We were damned worried about you, especially because you wasn´t even physically hurt."

"They said that you were under a deep shock." Sakura continued. "The medic didn´t know when you would wake up again. I´m so glad you´re finally awake!" Sakura let some tears rolled down her cheeks as she bent forward and wrapped her arms around Sasuke´s waist.

Sasuke got the bad feeling that everything wasn´t only a dream. But he didn´t want believe that this really happened. It couldn´t be real, because he couldn´t handle this.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked as his eyes stared at his hands. There was no blood. His hands were clean and pale like always. He wore the clean clothes which every patient in the hospital wore.

"You don´t remember?" Naruto´s face was a little bit relaxed now. "You were out with Sensei on a mission and something went wrong. Your client sent a message back to Konoha that both of you were missing."

"The Hokage sent a team out to look for you. And when their found you..." Sakura swallowed. "When Naruto and I got the information that both of you are in the hospital... We were so worried... Sensei was injured badly but, I was so grateful that you wasn´t injured. You only had some kind of shock which had knocked you out."

Sasuke couldn´t follow Sakura´s speech fully, because he was lost in his own thoughts. The hurt and guilt which he felt drove him crazy. It was his fault that Kakashi was de... Wait a minute, did Sakura said that Kakashi was brought into the hospital too?

"How is Kakashi?" Sasuke blurted out.

"When he arrived at the hospital, he was in a really bad condition..." Naruto said and showed his big smile. "But he´ll be fine after a while. He can already read his pervert books again, so I assume his condition isn´t so bad. I believe he really enjoyed it to have so much time now to read."

"Don´t talk in such a way about sensei!" Sakura scolded her blond teammate, before her look softened and she turned her head back to Sasuke. "He´ll be really happy that you´re finally awake. Sensei asked about you all the time. He would visit you himself but he isn´t allowed to leave his bed."

The Uchiha boy needed some time to grasp the words from his teammates. He was still very tired and his body felt weak but he felt a wave of relieve when he heard that Kakashi was alive. But how could he survive? He saw the blood and his Sensei hadn't moved. Sasuke had really thought that Kakashi was dead.

It was no wonder that Sasuke was really confused with everything. "How?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. He and Sakura gave him a weird look.

"I don´t understand how Kakashi could survive... I thought he is..." Sasuke´s voice was shaking. He was still traumatized by what happened in the mission and his mind pointed out all the cruel facts, which he only wished to forget.

"What is it with you? You´re acting completely weird!" Naruto said in a light mocking tone.

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped. She has already noticed that Sasuke wasn't acting like himself. But she assumed that the mission was really harsh and because of that, she could understand that Sasuke still had some troubles with everything, since he had only woken up half an hour ago.

"What? I didn´t said anything bad!" The blond Uzumaki protested. "But honestly, bastard, are you sure you are alright?"

The only reaction Sasuke gave was, that he pulled his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. Suddenly he remembered the terrible events in this mission vividly. He saw Kakashi´s body above him and he could see all the blood. And then he even remembered how he killed that man. His mind repeated the scene over and over again, how he had stabbed his kunai into the man´s chest. He remembered the shock frozen on the man's face and the dead man's eyes and he knew he was a murderer.

"If you´re still worried about Kakashi-sensei, there is no need for that anymore." Sakura said, she was a little bit confused by the Uchiha´s strange behaviour as well. But she reasoned it was the mission and maybe Sasuke was still worried about Kakashi. "He wanted to see you as soon as possible. What do you think, do you feel well enough to check on him?"

Sasuke´s mind drove him crazy. He couldn´t erase the cruel images from his mind and he recalled everything, every single detail. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry but all he did was to pull his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

"Sasuke... Are you okay?" Sakura asked, concerned.

"Leave me alone!" The Uchiha cried, with desperation in his voice. He couldn´t stand the thought that he was a killer. He only wanted to forget everything but he knew it was impossible for him to forget. Tears welled up in his eyes and he used all his willpower not to cry in front of his teammates. But it really didn´t matter, he had killed a man and he had almost killed their sensei too. This thought drove him insane.

"Hey, what is up with you?" Naruto asked, his voice concerned like Sakura´s. He noticed that his otherwise cool teammate was on the edge to cry and he grew worried about Sasuke´s strange behaviour.

"Leave me alone, please!" Sasuke yelled. He didn´t want to talk to anyone.

"Sasuke..." Sakura tried again but this time the Uchiha interrupted her.

"Go away! Both of you!" The boy yelled at his teammates.

Sakura was startled by her teammate's harsh reaction but at the same time, she knew something was wrong with him and she didn´t want to leave him alone like this. The pink haired girl wanted to say something more, but Naruto grabbed her shoulder with a gentle grip and forced her around towards the direction of the door. Sakura wanted to protest but Naruto already pushed her out of the room and closed the door behind them.

"What´s the meaning of this, Naruto?" The girl asked angry. "He is not himself now. He needs us!"

"Exactly! He isn´t himself now and you saw that he wanted some time alone. I don´t know what happened in that mission but something bothered Sasuke." Naruto said in a serious tone.

"That´s why he needs us!" Sakura said.

"I think we should let him have some space. We should talk to Kakashi sensei about his behaviour. He´ll know better about what´s wrong with Sasuke."

Sakura was surprised by Naruto´s calm speech. Usually he was the loudest and reckless member in Team 7 but today he seemed to know what to do and she had to admit that Naruto had a point. Kakashi always knew what was wrong with his students, plus he was with Sasuke on that mission. They should talk to him first.

"You´re right." She admitted and Naruto blushed as they went towards where Kakashi´s room was.

Kakashi sat up straight on his hospital bed and he was busy reading one of his Icha Icha books. He seemed to concentrate on the pages but the truth was his thoughts wandered to something else. The mission and the Kumo nin. The Jonin knew that the man was dead now. But many questions were left open. How did the man died and what happened with Sasuke after he passed out?

He knew that his raven haired student was placed into another hospital room and so far he know the boy wasn´t hurt badly, only exhausted. But that didn´t change the fact that he was worried and that he wanted to see him. He wanted to make sure that the boy was alright.

A loud knock on the door interrupted Kakashi's thoughts. A second later, Naruto walked in, followed by his pink haired female student. Kakashi was worried as he realized that Sasuke still wasn´t with them both. Hadn´t the boy woken up by now?

"Sensei, how do you feel?" Sakura asked politely.

"Mmmh, I feel a lot better now. But you visited me only a short while ago so I think there's not really any difference now." The silver haired Jonin answered.

Naruto laughed but the Sensei noticed that something seemed to bother the blond boy.

"So what is it?" Kakashi asked. "You two seemed to be troubled by something. Is everything alright?"

"We are both fine, sensei." Sakura said. "But we are worried about Sasuke. He is.."

"Is he awake now?" The Jonin interrupted.

"Yes, he is."

"Why didn´t he visit me too? Or is he in a bad condition?" Kakashi asked with concern.

"I think physically, he is fine. But he didn´t feel well nevertheless." Sakura looked worried. "Kakashi sensei, I´m worried..."

"He´s acting totally strange. He kicked us out from his room and he was almost crying." Naruto explained.

Kakashi frowned. It seemed that Sasuke was somehow still under some sort of shock. He could guess what happened after he passed out. He was sure he knew why the Kumo nin was found dead and this was the reason why Sasuke acted this way. If this was the case, then Kakashi had to talk to the Uchiha boy. He couldn´t let the boy to be alone in such a moment. Sasuke needed someone and Naruto and Sakura couldn´t understand what Sasuke went through right now, but he could and he wouldn´t let Sasuke down.

"Sensei, do you have any idea what´s wrong with him?"

His both students gave him a pleading look. They thought that their sensei knew everything and could make everything alright. It was somehow cute, how much his genin trusted him.

"Don´t worry. I know what bothered Sasuke." Kakashi said and the faces of the children brighten by his words. "I´ll talk to him and he´ll be fine."

"That´s great, Kakashi sensei. But by the way, what happened during this mission?" The Uzumaki boy asked, confused. "I don´t understand why Sasuke freaked out like that."

"I´ll explain it to you both later, eventually. But for now, I want to talk with Sasuke. He needs someone to talk and it was really smart from you to come to me and tell me about his behaviour."

The two genin smiled. Their sensei seemed to know what was wrong and so they calmed down somewhat.

"But now, I want to ask both of you for a favour." Kakashi said and his students looked at him confused. "I want you to bring me a wheelchair and take me to Sasuke´s room."

"But sensei, the medic said that you shouldn´t leave the bed..." Sakura argued.

"I need rest. Yes." Kakashi admitted. "But I don't think a trip in the wheelchair will be really exhausting. Besides, I need to talk with Sasuke as fast as possible. He really needs me now."

"Got it!" Naruto cried and stormed out of the room to look for a wheelchair. Sakura, on the other hand, didn't seem completely convinced but she let it go. Kakashi would know how much his body could take.

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto came back with a wheelchair and helped their sensei onto the wheelchair. Then he pushed Kakashi's wheelchair and headed to Sasuke´s room. Their didn´t knock on the door but opened without a word and entered the room with Kakashi. The sight of Sasuke worried Kakashi. The boy sat curled up on the bed and his shoulders were shaking with each sob. Sasuke was crying. The sight of Sasuke crying was too much for the two other children to bear and they couldn´t believe that everything was alright anymore.

Kakashi sent both of them outside. Naruto and Sakura obviously hesitated to follow their Sensei´s order but then they did what they were told.

Sasuke didn´t look up. The Jonin wasn´t sure if the boy was aware of his presence but the view of his crying student was difficult for him to bear.

"Sasuke." Kakashi said with the intention to get the boy´s attention.

The boy flinched as he heard Kakashi´s voice.

"Sasuke, look at me!" The Jonin said gently.

The raven haired boy hesitated but then he lifted his head and turned his head towards Kakashi. However, he avoided to look directly at his sensei. His eyes were deep red from crying and he clenched his shoulders in effort to keep his sobs down but with not much avail. Tears streamed non-stop down his cheeks. He had begun crying a while ago. When he realized what he had done, he couldn´t stop it anymore. And now to see his Sensei alive... It was a relieved feeling but the guilt ate him away and so he could only cry harder.

"I´m so sorry..." He said between his sobs.

The Jonin´s heart throbbed painfully at the heartbreaking view before him. He had imaged that Sasuke would be depressed about everything that had happened during their mission but for the boy to suffer this much... It´s proof that Sasuke was still a young child and he couldn´t bear what happened. Kakashi bent forward carefully and moved himself so that he could sit down on the edge of Sasuke´s bed. His back hurt terribly, but the Jonin didn´t care in that moment. He would be fine after some rest but when he looked at Sasuke, he wasn´t sure if the boy could handle everything. But he had to! Whatever happened had happened and Kakashi wasn't a man who hides from the reality. What was important now, was to be there for Sasuke and help the boy to move on.

"I´m sorry..." Sasuke repeated again as Kakashi sat near to him.

"Shhh. Calm down." Kakashi said in a soothing tone as put his hands on Sasuke´s head and slid his fingers through the unruly black hair.

"I... I didn´t mean it... I swear... I... I´m so sorry..." The boy couldn´t stop sobbing. His body was shaking.

Of course the Jonin noticed this.

"Hush. It´s alright, Sasuke. I know you didn´t want it. It´s alright, calm down." Kakashi used his other hand to wipe away tears from Sasuke´s cheeks but the boy cried even harder.

"It... It was... my fault... I almost... killed you too!" Sasuke blurted as he squeezed his eyes shut because more tears were welling up.

"No, Sasuke, please don´t say things like this." Kakashi said, this time in a louder and firmer tone. "Don´t blame yourself for what happened. It is how it is. You can´t change it anymore! Learn from your mistakes for the future but don´t let it pull you down!"

Sasuke shook his head. "You don´t understand... I was the one... I... I ...I ignored your orders and almost... ki...killed you..."

"You didn´t killed me, Sasuke!" The sensei interrupted. "The Kumo-nin was the one who wanted to kill me and if I hadn't interfered, he would have killed you! I couldn´t let that happen. It was my own choice to protect you."

The Uchiha boy used his fist to clean the tears away but new tears appeared almost at once. "But I wasn´t supposed to come after you..."

"No, you wasn´t. But even if you had disobeyed my orders, it wasn´t your fault what happened after that. That man fought me with the intention to kill me. And he left me with no other choice than to kill him myself before he got the chance to kill me first. It wasn't your fault, Sasuke."

"It was my fault!" Sasuke protested, still crying. "I was the one who... I..." He paused, unsure if he could tell his sensei what he had done. Maybe Kakashi would leave him at once if he knew what Sasuke had done. But it felt good to get it off his chest and so the words rolled out from his tongue mechanically. "I... I´m a murder..."

These words made Kakashi´s heart almost stopped for a second. It hurt him that the boy would think of himself in such way. He had always assumed that he and Sasuke were much alike. Even though this was true in a lot of things, Kakashi realized that they were different in some aspects. When he was at Sasuke´s age, Kakashi had killed countless times and it had never bothered him too much. He was already a Jonin and he was used to the dirty work. But he could see it now, what he had failed to see until now. Deep inside Sasuke was a really loving and sensitive child with some naive misconception about the shinobi life. It pained the Copy Ninja that not even the masacre had changed Sasuke this much but this incident on the mission had. He didn't want Sasuke to lose his last innocence. He couldn't bear to see the boy in so much pain. He had witnessed Sasuke crying before, he had seen Sasuke suffering before, but never in such extreme and he realized how much this bothered the boy.

Without a word, Kakashi held the boy´s face with both of his hands and forced him to look him straight into the eye. "You´re not a murder! I never want to hear something like that again! Stop blaming yourself for this! You didn´t have a choice. You needed to kill that man or he would kill you! None of us could bear it if something ever happened to you."

"You don´t understand!" Sasuke pulled away from his sensei. "I... I killed someone and I didn´t even remember how I did it. I can only see blood everywhere... I can't get these images out of my head..."

Kakashi´s visible eye softened. He hated that he couldn´t take the pain away from his student. But he didn't have the power to do that. Sasuke had to go through this experience by himself. He could only stay by his side and be there for him. The first kill would always be a horrible experience for every shinobi. Kakashi himself couldn´t remember his first kill anymore, maybe because he had killed too much people in his life or maybe he was way too young to even realize his first kill, but he had seen how fellow shinobi had struggled to cope with such incidents and their reactions were similar to Sasuke now. The fact that Sasuke was in some ways, still more of a child than a shinobi, had only made things worse for the boy.

The Copy Ninja wanted his student to understand. The poor boy had suffered too much. He grabbed Sasuke´s shoulders again and pulled the boy close to him as he wrapped his left arm firmly around Sasuke´s shoulders. The child didn´t fight him in any ways, it seemed Sasuke needed his comfort right now.

"Listen to me carefully, Sasuke." The Jonin said. "What happened in this mission was not your fault. That man wanted me dead. And if you hadn´t showed up suddenly, I would have killed him by myself. He would be dead before you arrived. But you have made a mistake by disobeying my orders directly. I gave you this order to protect you from something like this. But we can´t change this now. Learn your lesson and do better in the future. And like I said before, the Kumo nin would be dead anyway. First he tried to kill me and I admit he had some grudge against me, but he attacked you after you arrived suddenly..."

Kakashi swallowed and tried to get his emotions under control. The scene as the Kumo-nin ran towards Sasuke with killing intent... He couldn´t forget that scene and the fear that he could hurt Sasuke. He would do anything to protect Sasuke, even giving up his own life.

He needed a moment before he could continue to speak. "That man was a killer, not you! He wanted to kill you only to get back at me. He would have killed an innocent boy without a second thought. And I tell you what, that man deserved to be dead."

Sasuke whimpered after hearing these words. He understood what Kakashi wanted to tell him, but he couldn´t forget that he was the one who ended the Kumo-nin´s life.

Kakashi was aware how much Sasuke suffered and that it was difficult for the boy to listen to everything he had said. But he had to confront him with the facts. Otherwise Sasuke wouldn´t be able to understand.

"It is inevitable that every shinobi would have this experience some day. Killing is a part of the shinobi life. Sooner or later you would have to do it anyway. But I was hoping you wouldn't have to until some time later, because you are still so young. I know it´s hard for you now but you´ll get over it. You'll be fine."

"I don´t feel that this will be alright someday..." Sasuke mumbled. Although he wasn't crying as much as before and the tears were still there, at least the heavy sobs died down.

"I know you don´t feel it now. This need some time. But you´ll get over it, I know this." Kakashi said softly. He began to run his fingers through Sasuke´s hair again. The boy leaned closer to him but the pained expression stayed.

"Do you hate me now? Because I almost got you killed?" Sasuke mumbled in a low voice.

The older man stopped in his tracks. Had he heard him right? What was Sasuke thinking? How could he think of such a thing?

"How can you think that I'll hate you because of that? It was my own choice to protect you and I didn´t regret it. I wouldn´t even regret it, if I had lost my life."

"Why did you do that for me?" Sasuke asked. "Why would you be willing to die for me?"

"Because I care for you." Kakashi answered. "Because I love you like my own and I couldn´t bear if something would happen to you."

Kakashi spoke with so much sincerity that Sasuke felt a warm feeling in his chest. He felt not so lost anymore and he knew that Kakashi cared deeply for him and his teammates. Sasuke knew it already before that he had made new bonds with his team, but this was the first time that he realized how much they meant to him. He rested his head on Kakashi´s shoulder and closed his eyes. His body felt exhausted from all the crying. He still felt bad and he still couldn´t handle the feeling that he had killed someone. But the difference was that he didn´t feel so alone. He knew someone was there for him and would help him.

"I´m here." The Jonin said as he rested his chin on Sasuke´s raven hair. His wound hurt but the man ignored it. His pain didn't matter in this moment. The only thing which mattered was that Sasuke would get better again. "We´ll make it together. I´ll help you get through this. And I promise it´ll get away."

Maybe it would take a while for Sasuke to completely leave this incident behind but someday, he would. Kakashi told him so and for some reasons, Sasuke believed him.

**Thanks for the reviews, it´s really a great support. **

**A big thanks to een nihc again for her help! **

**I wasn´t sure if Sasuke is a little bit to depressed in this chapter but it´s turned out in this way. Please let me know what you think and review :)**


	12. Understanding eachother

**Understanding Each Other **

It was early in the morning when Kakashi wandered through the empty streets. The Jonin was heading to a special place, on a special day, in fact. He couldn´t sleep on the night before anyway but it was always the same every year on this day. After a few more minutes, the Jonin arrived at his destination. With his hands in his pockets, he stood before the memorial stone.

The memorial stone always brought up a mixture of feelings in him. Sadness, grief, pain, but in some strange ways, comfort too. Even after all these time, Kakashi often couldn´t believe that his best friend was dead over thirteen years. And he still couldn´t believe that he was in some ways responsible for that. Why was he such a jerk? Maybe everything would still be alright, if he had realized earlier what really mattered.

Today was the exact day when Obito died thirteen years ago. On this day, he often thought about his friend and remembered his past. He wouldn´t admit it out loud but the lost of his team had somehow destroyed him. On the other hand, he had changed a lot. But regret and guilt were always there and especially on days like this.

"Obito..." The man muttered as his hand touched the name from his friend, which was engraved in the stone. "I´ve never stop regretting my faults, I know what a fool I was, but... I´ve tried to change myself. I´ve tried so much but in the end I´ve failed again. I made the promise to protect Rin. I know this was your last wish. You entrusted her life to me, but I´ve failed her... I've failed both of you. I´m sorry that I couldn´t even protect her... I know I've already apologized for countless times but... I want to tell you this nevertheless..."

The Jonin took a deep breath.

"It´s funny... I don´t even know, if you can hear me... But when I´m trying to talk to you, I still have the feeling that somehow you are there... "

He felt especially painful on that day. In recent years, he hadn´t thought this much about his old team. Sure, the memories were always there and the guilt came up from time to time too, but it wasn´t so often anymore. He was now a sensei and he was worried about his three Genins. The kids were often a handful and so he often didn't have time to think on his past. His Genins were always present - even in their free time, they shared a lot of time together. Kakashi knew that they needed him. He was responsible for his team. But in the end, he knew that they had their own lives, besides team 7.

Except the avenger of the team, Sasuke. Kakashi knew that the raven haired boy needed him besides training and missions. And even if Sasuke didn´t know it yet, the Jonin knew he had to try to guide the boy away from the path of revenge. In the beginning, he had only wanted to show the Uchiha other options in life. But in time, they both have connected and now they spend a lot of time together, even without Sakura and Naruto.

The silver haired Jonin had noticed how much the boy needed someone to watch out for him. After all, Sasuke was left completely alone after the massacre. And somehow, Kakashi had took that role and he was really happy with that, because he and the Uchiha were very much similar.

Normally he would see his Genin team almost every day, but he had told them yesterday that they get today off, because the Jonin was not in the mood to deal with them today. He wanted to visit Obito´s grave and he applauded himself that he had made the right decision to take the day off, because he couldn´t handle his emotions at this moment.

The more he thought about his lost, the more the pain grew until it became unbearable. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes but he didn´t care. Anyway, the only thing what was visible from his face, was his eye and so the tears trickled away into the fabric of his mask.

It happened years ago but the pain stayed the whole time and it wasn´t easier to bear. It was a good thing that the mask covered his face and he stood with his back facing the entrance to the training grounds, because it would look really strange if the famous Kakashi Hatake would cry openly and he didn´t want anyone to witness this.

This was one of the reasons why he wore his mask, because he didn´t want people to read his emotions.

"Are you alright?"

Kakashi shrugged as he recognized the familiar voice. He didn´t turn around because he was still shaken by his emotions and he didn´t want anyone to see him being this vulnerable. Especially not Sasuke. The boy had enough to suffer himself and the Jonin was always strong before his students. He was always there to help and comfort Sasuke, when the boy needed him. To admit his own pain and weakness seemed impossible.

"Kakashi?" Sasuke asked when his Sensei didn´t answer. He could see that the man wasn´t himself. Gone was Kakashi´s cool behavior. In contrary, he was stiff and it seemed as if he fought to keep his composure.

The Jonin took a deep breath. He didn´t know why Sasuke was there when he was supposed to have the day off, but that didn´t matter in the moment. It was more important that Kakashi got a grip of himself again, because he didn´t want that the Uchiha to notice his momentary depressed mood.

He tried his best to answer his student in a neutral tone but he didn´t turn around to face him. "What are you doing here, Sasuke? It´s early you should be still asleep, it´s your day off after all."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes a little at his sensei´s remark. He somehow had the feeling that something was wrong with Kakashi and the suspicion only grew stronger, because the jonin gave them a day off on an usual training day and this had never happened before. Sasuke was no fool and he had come to know his sensei very well, even a lot better than his teammates, he presumed. Because he and Kakashi shared a lot time together. And the Jonin had helped him trough a lot. That was why the man was the person he trusted completely. That´s why he could tell for sure that his Sensei wasn´t himself.

"I..." The Genin began. "I wanted to train today, even if you had no time for us today... So I decided to train alone and come to our usual training place... But I didn´t know that you would be there. What are you doing here, sensei?"

"Nothing. You should go back home and rest a little while longer... " Kakashi said, still tyring to sound normal. Damn, he was an elite Jonin and he hadn´t even noticed the presence from his student. He only wished that Sasuke would go away and leave him alone.

"I don´t need more rest..." Sasuke said, confused by his sensei´s weird behaviour. "But are you sure, you´re alright?"

"I´m fine."

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes more than before. Did Kakashi think he was a fool? Even a blind person could see that this man wasn´t the same as usual. How can the Jonin expect that he would leave him alone when he was clearly bothered by something? It was Kakashi who personally taught him to care for his team and it was Kakashi who helped him through his own issues from the past. Ever since he knew Kakashi, the Jonin was always there for him, no matter what. His sensei always knew when he was unwell, even before he knew it himself.

And he was grateful for all the attention and help he got from him, that his life was now a little bit easier. Kakashi had taught him that there were still things which were important, beside his revenge and that even him, can still find some happiness. And he had told him always to be open with him and his teammates.

Sasuke couldn´t understand why Kakashi didn´t stand by his own words. He cared for his sensei too. When his sensei was unwell, he wanted to help him too, like how Kakashi would do for him.

The Uchiha wanted not to give up and walked near to the silver haired Jonin until he stood before him and could look in his face. Even with his mask on, Sasuke was sure he could read the sadness and pain his sensei tried to hide. And he had the impression that the Jonin had cried? But this was impossible! Kakashi was the strongest Jonin he knew, he wouldn´t... But then the boy remembered that Kakashi told him some time ago that he had lost his loved ones too and because of that, he could understand Sasuke´s pain. Maybe the man was overwhelmed by this, like Sasuke did from time to time.

Meanwhile the Jonin avoided eye contact with his student, when the boy suddenly stood before him. He had hoped Sasuke would leave like he told him to but he should've known better, he should´ve expected that the boy wouldn´t give up this easily.

"Kakashi... "Sasuke began and stole a glance to the memorial stone. He remembered that Kakashi once told him and his teammates that the name of his best friend was engraved here... Maybe this was the reason why he was here. "What is wrong with you today? You are not yourself."

It was cute, how the boy assumed to know him well. But Kakashi couldn´t allow himself to bother his students with his problems. After all, he was the adult, the leader and sensei. He should be the one who comforted the kids. He always gave his Genin the impression to be strong no matter what, and he wanted this to continue.

"I don´t know what you mean, Sasuke." The Jonin said as neutrally as possible. "But I only came out for a walk. And I´ll be going now." With that, he turned around and began to walk away slowly from the boy.

But Sasuke wasn´t satisfied with his explanation. Without hesitation, the boy rushed before the Jonin again. "I want a straight answer! Do you think I´m stupid? I can tell that you are suffering, I see it in your eye. You look like you´ve cried a moment ago!"  
Kakashi was impressed that the boy could see through his act so easily, since he was a Jonin with years of experience in hiding his emotions. Even so, Kakashi couldn´t talk with his student right now, not when he was in this condition.

"Sasuke, please..." He tried but the Uchiha interrupted him harshly.

"No! Why don´t you talk to me? Everyone can see that you aren´t alright! I mean you told me that we need to be honest with each other... because we are a team and all... But how can you expect us to follow this, when you don´t set an example..."

"I´m not trying to hide something from you." Kakashi said but Sasuke interrupted again.

"I know. That´s why you gave us a day off, because you don´t want that we know how bad you´re today. But I don´t know why you don´t want to talk to us. We are a team! Those were your own words and the first lesson you taught us and you told me that countless times! You told me that when I fought with Naruto or when I snapped at Sakura or when I´m down and wanted to be alone. You always said that I´m not alone anymore and that you can understand my feelings because you've lost everything too!"

The boy took a deep breath and then continued. "And that means that I should be able to understand you too, Kakashi! I´m not stupid, I can feel your pain and it feels familiar to me. You always help me through that, so why can´t I help you? Why do you push me and the others away? You aren´t alone either, so why do you behave like you are?"

"Sasuke..." The Jonin said, impressed by his student's speech, but he still couldn´t bring himself to admit his own weakness before his student. "The answer is simple. You´re a child so it´s natural that I´ll always help you. I´ll always protect you. But I´m a grown up man and I can handle my problems by myself. Please, you don´t need to worry about me. I´m fine."

"No, you aren´t." The raven haired boy said and looked him straight into eye. "What you tell me is bullshit. I mean... I know this pain too and we can share our feelings. You always told me that... But because I know this pain so well... I don´t want you to suffer so much alone. Because... " Sasuke stopped for a moment and looked down, before he finished. "Because I care for you... and I don´t want to see you suffer..."

Kakashi´s eye widened as he heard the boy´s words. Honestly, he had never expected such remark from the Uchiha. Sure, he already knew the boy cared for his team but for him to so openly admit it... He hadn´t expected this. Sasuke was (like him) normally not a very open person but it was obvious that the boy was, because of his team, was now not so cold anymore. And the Jonin was proud that he helped the boy in this direction.

And these simple words ... _I care for you_... For Sasuke to say something like that... Suddenly the ex-Anbu felt a warm feeling in his chest. For the first time that day, the man looked directly in his student´s eyes. Even if the boy looked a little bit ashamed, the light flush on his cheeks was evidence to that, he could see all the strong emotions in Sasuke's eyes. He saw and felt that Sasuke cared deeply for him and suddenly the Jonin felt guilty for worrying the boy like this. It was as if Sasuke´s emotional speech woke him up. It was funny how well Sasuke knew him. Kakashi was always able to read Sasuke´s feelings but today, it was the opposite.

The Jonin blinked the tears away, as he hoped that the boy still wouldn´t notice it. He felt his heart throbbed but not only out of pain but because he was really touched too. He had already known that his Genin team had changed him but now, he realized that they cared for him the same way he did. Now that he wasn´t alone, there was no need to bear this pain alone.

He smiled under his mask as he stretched out his hand and placed it on Sasuke´s shoulder. Sasuke looked up, confused and relieved at the same time. The Jonin said nothing as he lead the boy back to the memorial stone, where they stood a moment later before together.

With his other hand, the man stroke over Obito´s graved name.

"Obito Uchiha..." Sasuke mumbled as he followed his sensei´s hand with his black eyes.

"He is the friend whom I told you when I first met you..." Kakashi said and looked with deep sadness on the name.

"You never told me that this friend was an Uchiha." The boy looked at his sensei. "I mean I´ve never known someone with that name..."

Kakashi smiled lightly for a moment. Sasuke was a cute child, if he wanted to be. It was pity that these moments were so rare. "He died years before you were born. Today is his death anniversary."

"Oh..." Sasuke gasped, a little bit ashamed because he thought maybe he had hurt his Sensei´s feelings with his thoughtless question.

However, Kakashi seemed to know what he thought, as he squeezed his shoulder. "He was an Uchiha but mostly he reminded me a lot of Naruto."

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked with raised brows, as if he couldn´t believe that an Uchiha could behave like his blond and loud teammate.

"Yes, Naruto." Kakashi answered and smiled because of his student's disbelief again. "He was a typical looser. He was never good in anything and he failed during his entire academy years, but..."

"But?" Sasuke asked still confused. Kakashi´s description didn´t fit an Uchiha's profile.

"But… he never gave up." He finished his sentence. "And after some time he changed. He got stronger, so much stronger. Not only physically but his character too, but I was too arrogant to notice it. I didn´t notice for a long time what a great friend he was."

"What happened to him?" The boy asked but bit his lip as he realized his tactlessness. "I´m sorry... I shouldn´t ask you that..."

"No, you should." The Jonin corrected. "I´ve to admit that I´m glad that you are here now. It´s good for me to talk about him... He died on a mission during the third shinobi war. He died to protect me and our teammate. He gave everything for us."

"And he gave you this Sharingan too?"

Kakashi nodded. "He entrusted me with that in order to protect my comrades and never let anyone close to me die. I´ve failed so often... because of that, I often feel guilty..."

"I think it´s more important how much you tried. If you´ve given your best, then I think you haven´t failed. You´re a human too, even if you´re really strong, I´ve to admit. I believe he gave you the sharingan because you should move forward even if it's with new comrades. You told me that yourself that it is alright to let new people into your life, nevertheless we shouldn´t forget our loved ones too... I mean I will never forget my family... But I´m glad that I´ve found some new bonds... It felt good and comforting..."

While Sasuke spoke, Kakashi observed the boy carefully. He realized how much the boy had changed for the better. He still could remember his first meeting with Team 7. During that time, Sasuke was an empty boy, full of hatred and obsessed with revenge. Even now, although the wish for revenge was still present in the boy, he was not the same child. He had learned to live again, to feel emotions again, learnt to laugh, cry and scream when he felt it´s needed. Kakashi was so proud.

He moved his hand from the boy´s shoulder to the top of Sasuke´s head. "Do you know that what I told you and your teammates in the bell test, were Obito´s words?"

"You mean, that, 'A shinobi who broke the rules is a scum but a shinobi who abandoned his friends is worse than scum?" Sasuke asked.

"Exactly. I never forget his words. Never. It helped me to change for the better. And his words made me realize what a great person Obito was. And I want to honor his memory." Kakashi said with a thoughtful expression. "And like I said before, Obito was a lot like Naruto..."

Sasuke looked up at his Sensei, confused.

"He was a lot like Naruto but today you were exactly like him. Today you honored his wishes and helped me a lot. I´m so proud of you..." Kakashi said and smiled warmly at the Uchiha.

The raven haired boy blinked as he realized what his Sensei had told him. He couldn´t help but a wide smile appeared on his face. He was happy that he got Kakashi out of his trance and that he could help him. And somehow he felt proud that Kakashi compared him to this Obito. Because he was an Uchiha, like him and after all that Kakashi told him, this Obito seemed like he was a great guy.

"Thank you, Sasuke. You help me a lot."

"I think you should try to trust your own words better. After all, I only repeated what you told me." The Uchiha said with a smirk.

The Jonin chuckled. "I guess you´re right. Let´s go."

"Where?"

"Let´s go to Naruto and Sakura and we´ll start some training exercise. After that, I´ll treat you three lunch."

"I thought you gave us the day off." He replied, still smirking.

"I´ve changed my mind. I think you three can use some training. Besides I think you are all pretty good distraction. I think I need it." Kakashi said.

"Although I think Naruto and Sakura are still asleep."

"Then let´s go and wake them up." The Jonin ruffled his student´s hair and the boy answered with a roll of his eyes.

They began to walk as Sasuke looked up again and asked; "Hey Kakashi..."

"Hmmmh?"

"Are you feeling better now?"

"I feel great, thanks to you." he answered and ruffled his hair the second time which earned him a glare from the younger. Kakashi still felt the pain and he still suffered inside but the boy didn´t need to know that or maybe Sasuke knew it already. Maybe, the Uchiha understood his feelings well. But he had realized he wasn´t alone, and maybe he should spend his day with his genin. They would help him to get through the day. And as he looked at the Uchiha boy again, he felt such a big amount of affection for the child. He was really, really proud. And maybe this was what Obito really wanted to see in the future. After all, his genin had the will of fire inside, even Sasuke.

**A big Thanks to een nihc for her great help again!**

**And thank you for the reviews. The idea for this chapter came from Pixie07, thanks for her great help too! **

**Please review! :)**


	13. Just Curious

**Just Curious**

Sasuke watched his blonde teammate chased after their Sensei. It was the third try from the blonde to take a grip on Kakashi but the man was ways faster and stronger than Naruto. Not even with the help from his shadow clones, the Uzumaki had a real chance. The third try ended up in vain, again. Naruto landed his fist directly into Kakashi´s stomach and a triumphant smirk appeared in the Uzumaki´s face but it seems it would be too early, as the Jonin´s body disappeared into a puff of smoke. Of course a shadow clone.

Maybe Kakashi wanted to beat Naruto with his own weapons. Frustrated, Naruto chased after the sensei for his next attack but this time the silverhaired Jonin grabbed the boy´s wrist and slamed him into the ground and restrained his arms against his back.

"It seems, I won our little game." Kakashi said amused.

Naruto growled but he had to admit that Kakashi was right. "Let go! Let go! Let go!"

Sasuke sighed. His teammate should´ve expect this outcome. Messing with their sensei never went well for them but Naruto didn´t learn his lesson.

"What´s about you?" The Jonin adressed his ravenhaired student. "Do you want to try now?"

The Uchiha shook his head. "No, thanks.""

Kakashi chuckled and Naruto fought against the Jonin´s grip. It was the blond´s own fault, he should´ve known by now that Kakashi wasn´t a fool.

" So Naruto..." The copyninja said, still very amused. "Do you´ve enough now? Will you give up now?"

"I´ll never give up! And I´ll try again tomorrow until I´ve seen what you hide under your mask! Believe it!" The Uzumaki cried and struggled against the man´s grip.

Kakashi let go of Naruto and stood up too his fully height. "The outcome will be the same."

The game, which Kakashi always left as a winner went back to a silly idea from Naruto. His teammate came up with the thought, how Kakashi´s face would look and that it would be awesome to expose the man´s real face. At first Sasuke found this idea really stupid but then Naruto didn´t stopped talking about thinks like; Kakashi had fat lips, or he has a wart on his nose. And somehow Sasuke got curious too.

While Sasuke pondered about opportunities to see Sensei Kakashi´s face, Naruto went straight ahead and simple asked their sensei. The Jonin had simple laughed at them and told them, that he would show them his face without mask, to condition that one of them would be able to meet him with a simple blow during a fight.

Of course the genin were confident that they would get what they wanted. After all, how hard could it be to land a simple blow to the man?

But already after their first fight against him, Sasuke had to admit that this task was more difficullt as he thought. The Jonin was so damned fast that it´s seems almost impossible for them, to catch him.

Sakura was the first one, whom gave up, after Kakashi had thrown her into the cold water of the lake. The Uchiha continued to chase after their sensei, together with Naruto but after he ended up nearly everyday face down in the dirt, Sasuke was the second who gave up. Only Naruto was still determined to dare the impossible.

Of course for Kakashi this was only a lot of fun, to show all of them how much they still needed to improve. But Naruto stupid as ever couldn´t comprehend that he wouldn´t be able to land a single blow at the man and that Kakashi only made this condition up, because he already knew that he wouldn´t have to show them his _real face. _

Naruto complained to Kakashi, for being unfair but the Jonin laughed and simple said; "At least it´s a good trainingslesson for you."

The Uzumaki agreed and Sasuke felt the urge to roll his eyes. Didn´t notice Naruto that Kakashi made fun of him? But it wasn´t his problem if the blonde made a fool out of himself.

Naruto continued arguing with Kakashi and in the meantime Sasuke hung his own thoughts. While he had seen that it would be useless to fight with the copyninja everyday for something he can´t accomplish, doesn´t changed the fact that he was still curious. It seems that Kakashi doesn´t want to show them his bare face, no matter what. And since the darkhaired boy had learned to know the Jonin over the past month pretty well, he was sure that there must be a good reason for his sensei to wear this mask in the first place. And the more Sasuke thought about it he got even more curious to know, why he wore the mask as how he looked without the mask.

That was why he wanted to try a different method. Knowing Kakashi, the man wouldn´t refuse if Sasuke wanted to talk with him and so the Uchiha decided that it would be a great idea to spend the afternoon with his sensei and try to come behind the man´s real reason for wearing th mask.

So after training, Sasuke approached Kakashi and asked; "Would you mind to spend the afternoon with me. We can eat something together or something like that..."

Of course Kakashi didn´t mind, since the man had always a open ear for all his students. And the last month he had formed a really strong master-student-bond with Sasuke. Because the Uchiha had nobody else, who would look out for him, so Kakashi has early adopted the role of a parent. Therefore, it was absolutely nothing unusual to spend his freetime with Sasuke. Of course the young Uchiha was aware of that fact.

The silverhaired Jonin agreed and they both decided to go to a their favourite restaurant, in the centrum. The way there proceeded in silence. They both weren´t really talkactive personalitys. Sasuke thought the entire way, how he could get an satisfield answer from his sensei. He was sure, if he would simple ask Kakashi about the reason for his mask, the Jonin would make fun of him and say something like;_ "I´ll tell you, if you´re able to hit me into the face during training."_ A senceless condition again...

And because he already knew how his sensei would respond, Sasuke decided it would be the smartest to elicit the infomation somehow. How exactly he could do it, was still not clear for him. But it would be a good training too, to trick Kakashi without the man would notice it. Since Kakashi had the habito to look through Sasuke, everytime the boy tried to hide something from the man.

"Hmmm... I see, you´re lost in thoughts today. Is something bothering you?" Kakashi asked, after they entered the restaurant and sat down on an small table directly at the window.

The Uchiha blinked but he should´ve expected that Kakashi would notice. But this time it wasn´t him, who had some issues to discuss. He wanted to know, why his sensei wore this mask.

Before the boy could think of an appropriate answer, the waitress came, to receive their orders. Sasuke chose the same meal as always. Fish with vegetables in tomatosauce. The Jonin chose the same meal. Sensei and student had alot in common and sharing the same taste of food was only one example.

"So is everything alright?" The Jonin asked as the waitress left.

"Sure. I´ve only thought about something." Sasuke answered, still not sure how he should formulate his question, that he would get a honest answer. He was not an idiot, like Naruto who would simple ask. Because it would be useless in the end anyway. But he was a bit surprised about himself too. Sasuke had never imaged that he could be so curious about someones private matters. Maybe it was, because he realized that Kakashi knew almost everything about him, while Sasuke knew almost nothing about the man. Sure he knew the man´s likes and dislikes, he could estimate if the man was happy, amused, tired or angry even with his mask before his face. But he knew nothing about Kakashi´s past.

"And is this something important, if you get distracted like this." The Jonin gave him a smile under his mask.

Even if they were sitting into an restaurant right now, he wouldn´t get any chance to see his sensei´s face. Sakura had already the same plan but it doesn´t worked out, because somehow the man managed to eat his meal without taking his mask down. And Sasuke himself had eaten countless times together with his sensei. And somehow the food always disappeared without that Sasuke could even get a short view of Kakashi´s face. So it was no wonder, that he doubted that they would be able to see his sensei´s face. Not in this life.

At least he want to know, why his Sensei wore this mask in the first place. But he knew how often Kakashi made fun with him and his teammates and so he was still thinking of an possibility for an honest answer.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi shook his head. It seems the little Uchiha was somewhere else with his thoughts today. "What´s wrong? Are you still sulking that you three wasn´t able to get a look under my mask." The man chuckled and somehow the boy had the feeling that Kakashi knew already what he wanted to know.

A bit irritated and angry about the fact, that apparently he couldn´t hide anything from the man he made the mistake and blurted simple out what he thought. "Why do you wear a mask anyway?"

Kakashi leaned back. "What do you think, why I wear the mask?"

The Uchiha wasn´t entirely convinced that his Sensei took him serious in this maybe he would still get an answer. "Naruto said, you want to hide the fact that you´re ugly. Sakura asumed that you´ve some issues with your self-confidence."

The copyninja laughed. He was very amused how his students described him behind his back. "And what do you think? Tell me?"

The ravenhaired boy thought about it for an moment before he answered. "I think that the reason for this weird mask has probably something to do with your past."

His Sensei smiled. "It seems you´re pretty good in looking through me either."

"So, my assumption is right?"

Kakashi turned his head to his left side and indicated with his right hand too the waitress, whom carried a tray with their food. "Look, here comes our food."

The waitress placed the plates filled with the delicious meal before both of them, after she hurried away Sasuke observed his sensei with a curious look. He was still hoping that he could get a little view of Kakashi´s face, (somehow the man needed to eat and the Uchiha doubted that this would be possible with his mask on.)

"Remember, you´ve to beat me first in training before you can see my face." The copyninja chuckled lightly. The obsession from his student´s to see his face was really funny. It seems the three would do anything to take a look at his _unmasked _face. Even the stoic little Uchiha seems to be determined to come behind his secret.

"I wasn´t even looking at you!" The Uchiha protested harshly. He looked away at once, while a light blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Of course you weren´t." Kakashi laughed and began to eat his food in record time. As the Uchiha looked up a moment later, the Jonin´s plate was already empty , while the man smiled under his mask.

Sasuke was speechless. He hadn´t noticed when his Sensei had finished his meal and how fast was this man eating?! _Impossible, _the boy thought as he picked up his own chopstikes and ate his own meal.

"You eat really slow." Kakashi joked.

The boy glared at the man. "Maybe you simple eat too fast!" He put his chopstikes down and crossed his arms. "What is with your mask anyway? Are you really that ugly, that you´re ashamed to show someone your face? You haven´t told me now, if my assumption is right."

"If you can beat me in Chakra controll tomorrow, I´ll tell you."

Sasuke slapped his hand against his forehead. "I knew you would say something like that."

"So why did you ask?"

"Because I had the hope that my weird Sensei could be at least for a moment behave like an normal person." Sasuke replied annoyed with Kakashi, even if he already expected that outcome.

"So you think I´m weird?"

"Your whole team thinks you´re weird!" The boy reasoned. "I mean who would wear a mask all the time and wouldn´t even talk about his motives? Honest, you don´t make any sense."

The silverhaired man bend forward and let his hands rest on the table. "You don´t make any sense either. It´s really unusually to see you so curious." He smiled at his darkhaired student the whole time. "Like a little kid." He added and chuckled again.

Of course the Uchiha didn´t like Kakashi´s sentence. "I´m not curious!" He defended himself and glared at the man again. "I only wanted to have a normal talk with you but you´re joking around the whole time. It seems you´re the only one, who acts childish."

"If you say so."

"Hn. I know it." Sasuke grumbled and picked his chopstickes up again before he continued in eating his food. After he finished his plate, he drank a jar with water.

"Finished?" The Jonin asked and Sasuke nodded.

"I guess, I´m right because otherwise you would tell me about the reason, you wear a mask."

"Who said that I wouldn´t tell you?" Kakashi sighed.

"You make excuses the whole time! Of course I think you won´t tell me."

"I wear a mask almost my whole life." The Jonin suddenly began and Sasuke looked up, still not sure if the Jonin would really tell him. "When I was little, I began wearing the as an symbol for my dream at that time."

"Dream?" Sasuke asked with raised eyebrows.

"As a child, I dreamed to become an anbu someday. And because the mask is the identification for every Anbu." Kakashi explained calmy.

Sasuke couldn´t believe it. This reason was far more stupid as he had thought. "That´s all?" He asked with disbelieve. "No fat lips? No warts and no buck teeth?"

Kakashi shrugged with his shoulders. "What´ve you expected to hear? It got a habit from me to wear the mask everyday and everywhere. Later it helped me to hide my emotions from others. To stay calm on different situations. You can say it´s a simple habit from me but one I don´t want to miss."

Even if the last sentece made a bit more sense, Sasuke couldn´t believe that this was all. "And you told me really the truth?" He asked skeptical. The young avenger felt even abit disappointed, since he had thought the complete day about the reason why Kakashi wore this mask and now everything was so simple? "Are you sure this is everything?"

The silverhaired man laughed loudly. "You´re more annoying than Naruto today, you know that?"

His student narrowed his eyes, as he compared him to his bratty teammate. "Hn. Whatever. But I don´t understand why you don´t show us your face then? Or is there still something you want to hide?"

"If you want to find this out, you need to land a blow at me during training. My condition ist still current."

The Uchiha rolled his eyes. "Wow, that´s not gonna happen soon and you know that. That´s why you made up this stupid condition in the first place."

"Like I said before, you´re really good in looking through my true intentions." Kakashi said, still in a very amused and joking tone. "Maybe you three will be able to measure with me someday. Perhaps when you can call yourself a Jonin."

"Kakashi!"

But the older man could only laugh about his student´s anger. "What? You´re just abit too curious right?"

Sasuke gave his Sensei a dark glare as Kakashi caught him. He said nothing but inside he was determined to have a firm talk with Naruto tomorrow. Since he knew Kakashi´s reason for wearing a mask he found it even more ridiculous that the man wouldn´t show them his face. Maybe Naruto and Sakura were right and the truth was that their sensei was only ugly. And because he was dying from curiosity now once again, he decided it would be the best to work together with the blond idiot. Of course they would need a very good plan, but he couldn´t impossible wait until he would be a Jonin, because he was just too _curious._

**Thanks alot for all the reviews. It makes me really happy that someone is still intersted, that I continue this oneshots. :)**

**For this chapter, I wasn´t entire sure if I should upload it. I´ve wrote it already some time ago but I´m not really satisfield with it. It´s really short and I had some difficults with writing this chapter, since my english need´s still alot of improvement. Because I haven´t found a new beta now, I´m sometimes unsure with some work. I´ve tried my best to make this chapter readable but still it turned out otherwise as I wanted. The next problem is, that I get slowly out of ideas for more Oneshots. But I want to give this chapter a chance at least. **

**Please let me know what you think and review! :-)**


	14. A wound that never heals

**A wound that never heals**

"Sensei Kakashi..." Sakura´s squeaky voice directed the attention of the said sensei too her. The mentioned jonin looked up, from his red book and his one visible eye focused on his female student. "What is it?"

"May I ask you something?" She said sweetly and played with the clasp from her water bottle in her hands.

"Of course you can..." Kakashi replied a bit confused. Sakura was usually not the shy type and sometimes she talked without a dot and comma. But today she gave him the impression, that she wasn´t entire sure whatever she should ask him or not. He wanted his students to trust him and therefore he had always an open ear for all his genin. Maybe she wanted something important or even not,-anyway, her sudden change in behaviour made him curious. And he could tell, he wasn´t the only one. Naruto looked up with a confused look on his face, while Sasuke pretended not to listen and only concentrated on his lunch box but Kakashi noticed how the Uchiha´s ears peaked up.

"I´ve heard something about you..." It was obvious that she was uncomfortable with her request, but apparently she was too curious to drop the issue. "I don´t know whether it´s true, so I decided it´s the best to ask you personally..."

Now he was really curious. What could be the reason , that his usually cheeky Sakura was acting this strange all of the sudden.

"I was just wondering why you never mentioned something about your family before..." She finally said. "And then I suddenly heard that you haven´t even a family... If this is true... Are you completely alone Sensei..."

He had expected everything but this got him totally off guard. He could see Sakura tensed, she was afraid that she said something wrong. Naruto on the other hand observed him with his blue eyes carefully, as if he was searching for the answer. And Sasuke... Sasuke was still looking away but Kakashi could tell, that he hadn´t expected this question either. His fingers were clenched around his chopsticks and his collar hid a part of his face from view. The jonin could imagine that this topic reminded the ravenhaired boy of his own loss.

It was only now, that he realized that he had never talked with his students about his past before. He knew everything about them, and they knew as good as nothing about him. Perhaps he had wanted a new beginning when he became sensei from team seven, and he wanted to leave the past behind. But surely it wasn´t the best idea at all. He could tell, because his genin were really bewildered.

This was probably the time, where he should disclose his own secrets but talking about his past was never easy for him. And talking to three twelve years old genin, wasn´t easy either. Especial if two of said genin growing up as orphans as well. Well... where should he begin? He still wasn´t entirely convinced that he was ready to share this delicate topic with his students.

"Sensei Kakashi... Are you going to tell us?" This time it was Naruto, who interrupted his thoughts. His usually loud and carefree voice, was serious and hesitantly and obviously his students were aware that he wasn´t too comfortable with this subject.

He let out a sigh, which stayed unnoticed by his students, which he was grateful for. Even if his head told him, that he should trust them enough to give them a insight into his life, so he couldn´t deny that it wasn´t easy for him. But the hopeful and confusing expressions, which alle three wore on their faces, melted away his doubts and he decided it was time to be open with his genin.

"You know..." He began. "It´s not that easy for me to talk about my past."

"Then Sakura is right? You´re all alone too?" Naruto asked, his voice a bit louder then before.

"Not at all but close..." Kakashi said and observed every genin´s expression carefully. While Sakura seemed a bit ashamed that she brought up this topic , her eyes betrayed her and showed the curiosity. Naruto on the other hand, didn´t bother to hide the fact, that he wanted to know everything. The Uzumaki knew the pain of soltitude and it was only natural that he was happy to see, that he wasn´t the only one, who went through this.

But Sasuke´s initial nosiness wasn´t there anymore. His dark eyes were focused on his bento box and he seemed as much uncomfortable with the subject, as Kakashi himself was. Maybe the Uchiha had already understood, how much it´s pained him to talk about his past. If there was one thing he had learned fast about Sasuke, than definitely the fact, that the boy was pretty good in reading others sensations. But after everything the boy went through on his own, it was no wonder that he was ways more mature than his teammates.

"Listen you three, before I begin telling you my story, I want you to understand that it´s not easy for me, okay?"

Sakura and Naruto merely nodded but Sasuke observed him for a moment with a frown.

"You don´t need to tell us, if you don´t want." The Uchiha suddenly said.

The other both genin exchanged looks with eachother, before Sakura said:, "I´m sorry sensei. I don´t want you to feel sad again. So please forget it, it was stupid from me to ask something like that..."

"No it´s really alright Sakura." He said. "You three are my precious students and I want you to trust me and be open with me about everything. How can I expect that from you, when I don´t lead you by example, hmm?" He offered them a warm smile under his mask, before he crossed his legs and leaned back against a tree, to get into a more comfortable position.

All three genin were surprised. They hadn´t expected this answer. But after their sensei leaned back and was obviously ready to tell them his story, Naruto and Sakura likewise relaxed. Only Sasuke was still not convinced if it was a good idea. Of course he was curious too, but the boy knew from his own experience that talking about such painful events wasn´t easy. Kakashi was grateful for his understanding. Because this true understanding was only something, that someone could give you whom undergo such pain on his own. People could give you commiseration or consolation, but they could never give you this understanding when they haven´t went through the same. No wonder he and Sasuke had connected this quickly.

"The Hatake was never really a big clan..." He began to speak. "We were a family with no more then ten or twenty members. After the second shinobi war, he became even more smaller. However, when I was born, the clan was almost extinct. We weren´t a clan, whom posseses special skills, like the Yamanaka or Inuzuka clan for example. Although the Hatake were mostly very strong shinobi, they owe it their own training and improvement. Similar to civilians, who want to become shinobi or boys without a clan to train them."

He gave his students a smile and Naruto and Sakura blushed, because they knew he refered to them.

"Anyway, when I was born, there existed not more than five living Hatake. One of them was my father Sakumo Hatake. He was a very strong and famous shinobi and he was known as the white fang from the hidden leaf."

"The white fang?" Sakura repeated. "I´ve already heard that name..."

"Like I said, he was at that time really famous."

"And your mother?" She asked again, this time with a light smile on her lips.

"My mother died when I was little. I can hardly remember her. My father was always my reference person. He was my family, teacher and rolemodel..." Kakashi said thoughtfully. "He died when I was eight years old. I was alone from that day on..."

Sakura gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth. "I´m so sorry... "

Even Naruto´s blue eyes were full with sympathy. "Sensei Kakashi this is terrible..."

"It´s alright now." He reassured his students. "It was ages ago and besides I´m a shinobi, the loss of beloved ones belongs to our journey." The silverhaired jonin, noticed how Sasuke turned away from the scene. Maybe he chose his words too careless, even his own emotions betrayed him as he felt a slight pang of guilt. The truth was, the death of his father had left a deep inner scar. The feeling to be lost in this world, to be alone, is something a child shouldn´t experience.

Naruto and Sakura were deeply hurt. They couldn´t believe that their lazy and strong sensei owed such a tragic past. They had never expected this outcome.

_But what did I´ve expect?, _Kakashi asked himself, _Sakura comes from a civilian family and has still not really an idea from the harshness of the shinobi world. And Naruto was familiar with the pain of solitude but he can´t understand the pain of losing a beloved one. Of course they were shocked._

He told his genin that it was alright now, that they didn´t need to worry about him anymore. After some abit coaxing, Naruto and Sakura seemed to believe him. But Sasuke on the other hand... He saw the pained expression in his black eyes and he knew that the boy didn´t believed him in the slightest. If there was someone who could comprehend the pain of losing your family, it was Sasuke. And he felt guilty if this conversation reminded the ravenhaired boy of his own loss.

And if he was honest with himself, he couldn´t deny that this talk brought all his unpleasant and unwanted memories back too. The wellknown feeling of misery and cluelessness found the way into his stomach. In some ways, it was a good thing that he trusted his genin enough to reveal them such an important peace from his life. On the other hand, maybe this wasn´t still the right time to talk openly. Although he hadn´t even told them everything yet. Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment and drove his fingers through his hair. He felt suddenly fussed and he knew that he needed some time for himself now. So he declared todays meeting for done. He bid his goodbye hastily and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi spents the remaining afternoon, wandering through Konoha´s streets. He had hoped that with some distraction, the excruciating thought would leave him alone, but the opposite was the case. He should´ve knowm better. No matter how hard he tried in the past, he was never able to chase his true feelings away that easily. This was one of the reasons, why he closed all his emotions mostly into the hindmost corner of his heart. Because if he allowed his feelings to be out only for a short moment, he could hardly control them anymore.

Perhaps it was a mistake to answer Sakura´s question. Of course he should mind his own words and be honest with his students but his current state was only prove enough, why he shouldn´t let his mental barriers down.

His feelings were overwhelming right now. He felt like he was eight years old again. All the pain, he tried to ignore else broke out and the jonin realized, how much he still suffered under his great loss.

His legs moved almost automatically to the place which he wanten to avoid in reality as much as possible. The last time, he visited his father´s grave was ages ago but maybe in this moment, this was the only thing he could do to put his mind back to rest.

Kakashi slowed his pace when he went through the gates of the cemetery. Although he wasn´t a really regular visitor, he knew exactly where he would find every grave of persons he once knew.

He observed the graves, which he passed as he went with fast steps through the small ways. His visible eye wandered to the graves of his deceased teammates. Obito was buried, together with the rest of his family on the other end. But Rin´s grave was right next to his Sensei´s and Kushina´s grave. If he was honest, he visited their graves seldom too but still more frequently as his father´s.

Today was different. Through his talk with team seven, came his true feelings up after a long time. He could suddenly remember things about him, like the sound of his voice or the smell of his clothes, or even the smile which his father had only reserved for him. The masked jonin wondered why he never bothered to think of all this great days he had spent together with his father. Perhaps because the resentful feelings he felt, after his death were far more present as all the happy moments.

His pace slowed again, as the sight of his father´s grave came into view. He stopped for a moment in his tracks as he recognized a familar looking figure, right in front of his aim. He narrowed his eye automatically as he stepped near.

_What is he doing here? _He asked himself. The said person still hadn´t noticed his presence at all. Kakashi moved forward and stood directly behind the boy, whom was kneeling on the ground.

"What are you doing here?" The jonin almost snapped and he could only blame his overwhelming emotions, that his voice sounded this harsh. _Great, now I can´t even control my pitch._

The boy jumped as he suddenly heard Kakashi´s voice. He stood up at once and turned hesitantly around. He was aware that he had shocked the boy and so he sighed and added into a lot calmer voice, "Sasuke why are you here?"

The uchiha blinked and blushed as he looked down on his feet. Only now the Jonin recognized the white and yellow flowers, which laid before his father´s grave stone.

"Did you put this flowers there?" He asked with raised eyebrows. Sasuke nodded still noticeable abashed that his sensei caught him completely off guard. "But why?"

Sasuke´s body stiffen by his sudden but predictable question. "Because your confession earlier, brought back my own memories. I hadn´t expected that you´re completely alone too, without family and so... I mean, I can comprehend your feeling more than Naruto and Sakura and I´m sorry for your loss."

Kakashi wrinkled his forehead. "I know what you want to tell me and I´m thankful for your understanding but this is no explanation why you put flowers before my father´s grave." Of course he wanted an statement from his student.

The uchiha nodded again. His eyes were still fixed on the ground as he answered. "I just wanted to visit my parent´s grave. I´ve always flowers with me, when I visit them. It´s politely. Before I left their grave, I remembered that you mentioned your father´s name and I only wanted to pay a short visit. Since your´re my sensei at all... But when I found the grave of Sakumo Hatake, I was really shocked how scruffy everything is..."

The older man raised his silver eyebrows in some art of shock.

"I mean he was your father and you neglected his grave like this? It´s disrespectful against the deceased to abandoned their grave like this. When I saw the state of this grave, I felt sorry for your father, that´s why I placed the flowers there."

He was very surprised as Sasuke suddenly began to lecture him. Normally the opposite was the case, but the more he listened to the boy´s words he couldn´t deny, that he began to feel extemly guilty. Kakashi had to admit that Sasuke´s words weren´t completely untrue. The grave was really not in the best state. He wasn´t here for a very long time and as he observed the grave and noticed the tangle of weeds and the dirt on the grave stone, he couldn´t help and felt terrible. Even after everything what happened, Sakumo was still his father and he hadn´t earned to find his final rest on such an scruffy place. Had he really avoid everthing from his past this terrible, that he even forgot to look for his father´s grave from time to time?

Even Sasuke, his stoic little genin was shocked about this. Somehow the boy´s friendly gesture had open his eyes. No matter if he still holded some grudge against his dead father, such an treatment was unworthy.

He pulled himself together as he looked directly at his student. "You´re right Sasuke, thank you for this."

"Häh? " The Uchiha blinked confused. "But you´re the one who let this happen in the first place."

"Yes I did. But I´ve recognized my mistake now." Kakashi said and went around and kneeled down before the grave. "Would you mind with helping me to refurbish the grave a bit? I could need your help."

Sasuke was really surprised with Kakashi´s sudden mood change but he nodded nevertheless. The boy was a very smart child and because of his own experience, he could understand that every person had their own way to manage the pain. So he kneeled down right next to his sensei and began to help him. The jonin smiled at him as they both worked in silence. It´s took them over an hour until they managed to remove all the weeds and superfluous dirt from the grave, but the result was impressive.

"Should I leave you alone for now?" Sasuke asked and stood up. He wiped the sweat from his face and observed his sensei with searching eyes.

"No it´s alright. I´ll come back later. Let´s head back now, it´s almost dark." Kakashi stood up as well but his eye was focused on the grave stone.

"Are you sure?"

Kakashi nodded and placed his hand on Sasuke´s shoulder as he shoved the boy forward. His student seemed to be skeptical, but he said nothing. They went for a couple of minutes in silence and as they passed through the cemetery gate, Kakashi stopped in his tracks.

"What is it?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

The jonin remained silent for a long moment. The pain and grief were suddenly so much present and he saw all this memories, which he had tried to forget. The feeling of resentment was mixing with the longing and love he once felt for his father. And still felt now. The urge to talk was big but nevertheless he tried to push his emotions down. But he failed.

"My father committed suicide..." He finally said.

Sasuke´s eyes widened out of shock. He wasn´t sure what he should reply. "That´s..." But he couldn´t find the right words and so he stopped.

"I couldn´t bring myself to talk with someone about this detail but maybe I´ve to admit that you´re a special case. You can understand me after all."

"And you can understand me." Sasuke suddenly said and Kakashi turned around to face his student.

He smiled as looked at the uchiha´s understanding face. It was true, they both could share eachothers pain, maybe this was the reason why Sasuke was his favourite pupil from the beginning. "That´s right. So you know, you can always come to me? No matter what is bothering you."

"And you should know, that you can do the same." Sasuke replied and offered him a small smile. "I mean, Naruto and Sakura will always listen to you but maybe they can´t understand you, so you can come to me too, if you need someone to talk."

Kakashi chuckled lightly, even if he wasn´t really in the mood to laugh. "Thank you Sasuke. You´re really indispensable for me."

"Why committed your father suicide?"

The older male sighed inwardly. He still wasn´t sure whatever he was ready now, to let out everything but in the end it couldn´t be worser anyways. So he began to tell Sasuke everything. He told him about his father´s failed mission and how the village placed all the blame at Sakumo. How his father broke under all his own guilty feelings. And how Sakumo saw in the end no other way out as to kill himself. It was the first time he spoke about this without bitterness.

"I think this is the reason why I´ve always resented my father. Because he left me alone only for his own selfish reasons."

There was silence for a while again.

"I don´t think your father did it on purpose..." Sasuke suddenly said. "I mean after everything you told me... Maybe even shinobi have their limit and he couldn´t continue to live in shame any longer. Maybe this was his way to make all right, what everyone assumed was his fault."

The jonin snorted. "But he forget about me. It was a terrible time after his death."

"I can understand that you hold a grudge against him for that but perhaps you can try to imagine how much he had suffered." The darkhaired boy explained and Kakashi wasn´t sure whatever it was a good thing or not, that the uchiha already was this mature. "Do you´ve still memories from your childhood? What for an father was your dad?"

He didn´t need to think long, until all the happy pictures appeared before his eyes. His heart began to beat faster, as he recognized how much love he still holded for his father. He was a moment in thoughts, before he could bring himself to speak.

"He was the best father you can imagine. He got never angry with me, I can´t even remember one occasion where he raised his voice. No matter what I did, he was always calm. My father showed me everyday that he loved me and that he was proud of me..." Kakashi stopped for a moment. "But after his death... I began to doubt his affection for me."

Sasuke´s expression was serious as he said, "I believe your father had truly loved you. Otherwise he couldn´t gave you this much affection when he was alive. You should forgive him , because I´m sure that he had suffered alot to go this far. And even if you´re angry at him, you shouldn´t forget all this nice memories."

Kakashi´s couldn´t believe that this mature words were spoken by an twelve years old boy. Even if Sasuke was still a child and Kakashi knew the childish characteristics very well, the traumatic event the boy went through let him grow up in many other aspects. If he asked his heart, he had to admit that Sasuke was right. His father had never gave him any reason to despise him. And maybe he was oblivious to the fact, how much Sakumo had truly suffered under his guilt.

He couldn´t change his feelings over night, but at least it was a beginning. In the end he was glad that he had decided to talk openly with his students. Sasuke had showed him everything from a different perspective and it was, as if he saw the things for the first time clearly.

"Sasuke..." The copy ninja said as he placed his hand on the top of the boy´s head. "Thank you."

The genin looked up. "I´m happy for you, that you at least have the knowledge that your father had cared for you." Sasuke gave him a sad smile. "I wish I could tell the same... My dad died before I had even the chance to figure out, what he was feeling for me..."

His expression softened immediately. Of course Sasuke had lost his family too and of course, the boy was full with his own unanswered questions as well. Maybe it was Kakashi´s turn now, to help his student. "Was your father so different?"

Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets as he looked down again. "Honestly... I don´t know how he really was. He was never at home and when he was, he simple ignored me. I haven´t much memories about him... I wish we had spent more time together, so that I would´ve got the chance to know him..."

Kakashi observed his student searchingly. He noticed the sadness in the boy´s eyes and he admitted that he and Sasuke were really much alike. They shared the same art of pain and it was sad, but on the same time relieved to know that there was still someone else, whom could understand this overwhelming feelings.

The boy´s eyes were still focused on the ground as Kakashi patted his head in a comforting gesture.

"Do you know, that I worked with your father on some occasions?"

Sasuke looked up. "Really?"

He nodded with an smile under his mask. "I still remember one time, we went on an escort mission outside from Konoha... He was a very serious and discreet man but somehow we started a conversation nevertheless. I asked about his family and then he began to talk. He was full with pride, as he mentioned his children. You was obviously very little at that time and only began to speak your first words. He told me that your first word was Papa instead of Mama, and that he was the happiest man of the world after you called him that."

The silverhaired sensei observed the boy carefully. Sasuke was frozen, before his eyes widened. "He really said so?" Sasuke asked and still couldn´t believe Kakashi´s little anecdote.

Kakashi nodded. He could imagine how much this words meant to Sasuke and he told him the truth. "Your father gave the impression to be cold and unapproachable, but he had truly loved you and the rest of his family. I could see it in his eyes, when he talked about you."

"And you´re telling the truth?" The boy was still not entirely convinced.

He smiled. "Of course this is true."

Sasuke´s answer was a bright and happy smile, which he had never seen before at his student´s face. It was great that he could give the boy a piece from his family back. The uchiha was very young, when he lost his clan. He was aware that this tragedy left the boy with a lot confusion and unanswered questions.

"I guess, now it´s my turn to thank you." The genin said.

"No need for that." He replied. "We´re a team and we need to look out for eachother, right?"

"Right."

They made their way back to the village and Sasuke couldn´t stop smiling the entire way. For some reason, Kakashi was smiling too. Just maybe, he had finally realized that his father was an important piece of his life. His family. No matter what would happen from now on, he would never try to forget him again.

**Thank you for the reviews :)**  
**I want to thank Pixie07 for her support and the idea for this chapter. :)**

**I´m aware that there could be a lot spelling and grammer mistakes. If you notice something, I would appreciate, when you would inform me. **

**Please let me know what you think and review!**


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